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  • Home
  • who we are
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    • Sub-Committee Videos
  • What we do
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      • Climate Change
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The Members' Blog

Authorship
Until January 2020, this Blog was the voice of an individual WI member.  Over her 40 years of membership, our Blogger had made a very fine contribution to this and other Federations in England.  With interests in crafts, reading and writing and in travel, she also took an active part in campaigning for women's welfare and education and on environmental issues.  While she has now handed over the Blog to the wider Bucks membership, her archived blog posts are a testament to someone who always made the utmost of her membership, and a rich source of information about the part the WI can play in today's society. 

Update on our World

17/3/2017

3 Comments

 
7th March
A fairly large contingent of members from our WI attended the Investigation and Discovery Day at the AVDC Gatehouse in Aylesbury. If I had been told that nearly 200 WI members would sit enthralled listening for an hour to a talk on Maths at 10.15 in the morning, I would never have believed it. Adam Kucharski who is an Assistant Professor in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine talked about how epidemics can be fought by the use of maths to predict the spread of diseases. Early intervention and co-operation through WHO is vital in dealing with epidemics. We heard about recent outbreaks and Adam showed us how his graphs plotted the true rise and fall of infection rather than the panic reaction reported in the media. Unfortunately, he does think that the biggest threat is another strain of flu which could sweep quickly across our shrinking world.
Then it was the turn of Helen Arney to explain some physics and astronomy accompanying herself on the guitar as seen on TV and at the Edinburgh Fringe. She concluded her entertaining presentation by singing the periodic table to the music of Gilbert and Sullivan. Before lunch there was a brief talk by an emergency motorbike rider from SERV OBN, the rapid response team who wanted to tell the Bucks WIs that the organisation had speakers available to come to meetings to raise funds for what is a very worthwhile service manned by volunteers.
Denise Smythe-Wright was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems in Southampton and is now the President of the International Association of Physical Sciences of the Oceans, advising on climate change at World conferences such as the next G7. She talked about her life travelling across and under every ocean as she analysed sea water and tracked plankton distribution in their currents. Denise designed and built her own equipment. She explained about the effect of melting glaciers and the shrinking icy coasts of Greenland on the jet stream which we all knew a little about and the thermohaline circulation of water which we didn’t. Of course, in Bucks WIs this year, debate touched on pollution through micro-plastics but also halocarbons and iodine.
The final speaker was Dr Giles Yeo who is working on genetics and severe human obesity at Wolfson College, Cambridge and at the Medical Research Council’s Metabolic Diseases Unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He has appeared on the Horizon TV series. Giles is a very dynamic speaker, entertaining to listen to but he explains clearly complex ideas. We learned about the importance of leptin which is the hormone which inhibits hunger. It tells the brain when the human body needs food.  Many of the cases of obesity are because of the absence of this vital hormone which can also cut off the immune system and prevent puberty.
It was a fascinating day and everyone went home feeling that they had learned a lot and enjoyed the day. There was a representative from WI Life present again but I shall be very surprised if an account of the day is ever printed in its pages which is a shame as WI members in other federations would benefit from these informative days on science and discovery.
​
3 Comments
Hilary
10/4/2017 08:02:41 pm

Well, prepare to be surprised. ...

Reply
Pat Poole
10/4/2017 09:19:37 pm

There will be a report of the I&D day in the May edition of WI Life as confirmed to me by the Editor.

Reply
valerie Alsford link
14/5/2017 05:31:21 pm

Well done to you all. It sounded as good as it was! But I have a sneaking suspicion the journalist left at lunchtime because the report sort of tailed off didn't it? Anyway we mustn't grumble because at last Bucks made the full page.
Best wishes

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Buckinghamshire Federation of Women's Institutes (Affiliated to the National Federation of Women's Institutes)   ​Charity No: 228057 ​
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  • Home
  • who we are
    • Federation Trustees
    • Sub-Committees
    • Sub-Committee Videos
  • What we do
    • Current Campaigns
      • Climate Change
      • End Violence against Women
      • Get On Board
      • Stop Modern Slavery
      • Make a Match
      • 5 Minutes that matter
    • Resolutions
    • The Members' Blog
  • What's On
    • Events Calendar
    • Competitions & Challenges
      • Green Canopy Competition '22
      • Elizabeth Bell Challenge 2021
      • BFWI Silver Cup
      • Lady Denman Cup
      • Pudding Fit for a Queen
      • Virtual Show
  • Running your WI
    • Finding a Speaker
    • Subscriptions
    • Library
      • Tutorials & Library
    • Learning
      • WI Training
      • Denman @ Home
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • On-line Store
  • History of Buckinghamshire WIs
  • Use of Website