Events
Current & upcoming events
Follow us on social media to stay updated about our upcoming events!
Festival of Physics: 22nd February 2025
We’re supporting the Institute of Physics’ South West Branch in planning their Festival of Physics, which will be hosted at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall in 2025!
The day will include a day of free talks, exhibitors and workshops around the theme of ‘Worlds from Space’ and will be suitable for all ages.
Find out more and sign up for updates via the Institute of Physics website!
Past events
Community BioBlitz
Saturday 2nd November 2024
We had the first BioBlitz event outside the Melo Cafe in Exeter on 2nd November!
It was great to have so much engagement with the new living wall, as well as our hands-on activities.
You can still contribute to our biodiversity monitoring of the site via the iNaturalist app – find out more about the project and get involved via the Livingwalls for NetZero project webpage.
Huge thanks to Dr James Buckley for coming along for the afternoon with his fantastic biodiversity monitoring kit! If you’d like to watch our video tour to find out more, you can do so on Instagram or Facebook.
Our World From Space: Sidmouth Science Festival
Saturday 5th October 2024
We were back in Kennaway House for this year’s Sidmouth Science Festival Super Science Saturday!
We had a whopping 400 people visiting The Blue Room to engage with our activities, and we loved to chat to so many science enthusiasts. Huge thanks to our volunteers Regan and Scottie for helping all day!
Find out more about the annual festival on the Sidmouth Science Festival website.
Our World From Space: South Molton Eco Fair and Barnstaple 361 Energy Fair
Sunday 22nd and Sunday 29th September 2024
We brought Our World From Space activities to North Devon for two weekends, first to the South Molton Eco Fair then to the 361 Energy Fair!
Great to see all the brilliant organisations and groups with a passion for education, climate action and sustainability. Thanks so much to our volunteers Gabi, Nancy, Ella and Serena for all their help!
Find out more about the project and the full events list on the project resource page.
UNESCO City of Literature: Exeter City Reads Event
Wednesday 11 September 2024
We were thrilled to bring a tiny taste of the Exoplanet Zone from our Climate Exhibition to this special evening event at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, to celebrate five years of Exeter’s UNESCO designation!
Along with our mirror exhibit and some of our favourite NASA Exoplanet Travel Bureau posters, we showed the brilliant VR video created with University of Exeter Astrophysicists around their research into exoplanets, which helps us learn more about our own Planet Earth (take our virtual tour to understand how)!
You can view these VR videos on YouTube on our Exoplanet Climates webpage (scroll to the bottom).
Our World From Space: The Beacon and Exeter Quayside
Thursday 22 August 2024
We had a busy day taking Our World From Space activities first to a family day at the Beacon Centre, then fun in the sun (and wind!) taking the kit over to Exeter Quay as part of Summer at the Quayside!
Find out more about the project and the full events list on the project resource page.
Thanks so much to our volunteers Theo and Gabi for helping all day, and to the Adrian Swire Charitable Trust for funding these events!
Our World from Space at CoLab, Exeter
19th August 2024
We had a great morning at CoLab running an Our World from Space workshop with an awesome and enthusiastic group!
Mark Duckworth, the Mens Group Coordinator said:
“I have found ESC excellent at engaging with our learners. ESC encourage lots of questions and also ask questions to help a learner think about the subject at hand. The sessions are not didactic, rather there are conversations, and it has been great to witness learners deepening their understanding of science.”
Our World from Space at Manaton Show & Fair
Saturday 10th August 2024
Lots of fun at Manaton Show and Fair in Dartmoor under a bright red marquee with some brilliant volunteer scientists Regan and Gabi!
Fantastic to see one of our regular volunteers, Ellie, there as one of the festival organisers!
Barnstaple Library summer HAF workshop
Tuesday 30th July 2024
Nat climbed back into the Earthy suit for a morning of Operation Earth activities with children at Barnstaple Library!
The event lead at the library said:
“Alice and Natalie ran a fantastic Operation Earth workshop as part of our summer HAF programme. They set up a whole range of activities that kept the children, and parents, engaged for the duration of the session. Their delivery was fun and interesting.“
Our World from Space at Exmouth Festival
Saturday 20th July 2024
Despite the POUNDING rain, we really enjoyed our day at Exmouth Festival. We had some great engagement with the people that braved the weather! We were based in the Community Hub at Sideshore which is a fantastic place where we felt so inspired by all the sustainability projects and actions in Exmouth!
Nicky Nicholls, the awesome Community and Innovation Lead at Sideshore said:
“On Saturday, Exeter Science Centre were in the Hub and I was blown away by what they were doing. Climate science for all ages in the most engaging and interesting ways. Their team were bright, bubbly and totally inspiring.“
Our World from Space: FUTURES event
Tuesday 16th July 2024
We joined forces with a brilliant group of scientists and students from the University of Exeter to deliver a full day of activities for pupils from Year 7 and 8 at St James School, Exeter. We focused on how local scientists are using satellites to help us better understand the Earth!
This is one of three school events we are delivering with the University of Exeter as part of the FUTURES: Researchers at Schools programme. If you’re a UoE researcher who would like to be involved in the events in 2025, get in touch!
Green Phoenix Festival
Sunday 30 June 2024
We went to the Green Phoenix Festival with a selection of exhibits from our Climate Exhibition!
It was great to have so many inspiring pledges made for the planet – and to see so many organisations doing good things in the city and region! Huge thanks to our volunteer Peng for helping out all day!
Climate Exhibition at National Trust Killerton!
8-16 June 2024
A condensed version of our Climate Exhibition 2023 popped up at National Trust Killerton for Big Green Week this year! Huge thanks to National Trust and their volunteers for hosting and facilitating, and our volunteers Regan, Owain and Kelsie for all their support on Saturday 15th!
Find out more about this event on the Climate Exhibition 2023 project page.
Our World From Space @ Exeter Library
Thursday 4th April 2024
We were back at Exeter Library on Thursday 4th April for our very first public event of the Our World From Space programme!
We had a selection of hands-on activities around how satellites work and how they help us monitor our Earth. Huge thanks to our volunteers Steph, Kelsie and Ben for helping us run the event!
Missed it? Don’t worry, we have events coming up throughout the next year! We’ve got all of our event images and more about the project on the project resource page.
South West Science Chats: Reg Godwin
25th March 2024
We met Reg Godwin for our second episode of South West Science Chats! Reg has 17 years of experience in environmental and water testing, and we’re working with him to extend his brilliant citizen science project all around water quality – check out Kingfishers Citizen Science to find out more.
Catch up on the discussion on YouTube or LinkedIn – and subscribe / follow us so you’re notified for our next discussion!
Paignton Library Future Proof – Eco Takeover
3rd February 2024
We were at Paignton Library for our first event in 2024!
We brought the incredible We Are Guardians film in VR, along with hands-on activities for all ages to understand the actions we can all take to make a difference for Planet Earth.
So many seeds of change were planted and we loved all the inspiring chats about how we can make a difference at home, at work + in society. Huge thanks to the Paignton Library team for inviting us!
South West Science Chats: Prof Tim Dodwell
1st February 2024
We’re launching a new video series in 2024: South West Science Chats! We’ll be meeting with interesting people working in STEMM research and industry across the region, to find out about what they do, their career paths, and to get an idea of some of the fascinating work going on in the South West.
For our first episode, we had a really interesting discussion with Prof. Tim Dodwell, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of digiLab – a tech startup based in Exeter. We heard about his experience setting up a progressive tech company in in the city & how digiLab are putting people + planet first in their choice of projects.
Catch up on YouTube or LinkedIn – and subscribe / follow us so you’re notified for our next discussion!
Exeter Library Lates
24th November 2023
On Friday 24th November we were at the Library Lates “Yesterday’s Tomorrow” event at Exeter Library!
The retro, sci-fi-themed evening was packed full of awesome cultural activities, and we went along with our friends The VRVE to bring a taster of our recent exhibition!
Paignton Library: Operation Earth + We Are Guardians Tour
23rd October 2023
We’ve been touring our Operation Earth show, hands-on activities, and the award-winning ‘We Are Guardians’ film around the South West, and in October half term we popped up at Paignton Library!
We met so many enthusiastic people and loved the contributions to our chalkboard mural of the day (pictured!). Find out more about the project here.
World Spine Day focus group
16th October 2023
We ran a focus group on 16th October at Exeter Library, for World Spine Day! Participants generously shared their time and opinions and chatted to some awesome scientists from the University of Exeter and Cardiff University about some new research to understand the spine better!
Find out more about the research here: https://idsssm.exeter.ac.uk/.
Sidmouth Science Festival 2023
7th October 2023
We were back at one of our favourite festivals for a jam-packed day of activities with over 400 people!
This year, we took a mini version of our exhibition to the festival, taking people of all ages on a journey to explore planetary climates!
Find out more about the festival here, and a huge thanks to the Sidmouth Science Festival for supporting our costs to attend this year.
Climate Exhibition 2023
6th – 10th September 2023
Our Climate Exhibition took place during the British Science Festival in Exeter this year and we loved being back at Maketank again!
We reimagined the exhibition based on consultations with community groups across Exeter and the region – check out the exhibition details and resources here.
Barnstaple Library: Operation Earth + We Are Guardians Tour
Summer 2023
We toured our Operation Earth show, hands-on activities, and the award-winning We Are Guardians film around the South West in summer 2023, and we loved meeting our honorary trainee environmental scientists in Barnstaple Library this time.
Find out more about the project here!
Exeter Cathedral Bioblitz 2023
21st – 22nd July 2023
We were at the first Exeter Cathedral Bioblitz on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd July!
Find out more about the event on the Exeter Cathedral website. We’re touring our Operation Earth show, hands-on activities, and the award-winning We Are Guardians film around the South West in the Summer and Autumn of 2023 thanks to the Adrian Swire Charitable Trust (more info about the project here).
Here’s what the organiser Lis Spencer said about us:
“When we first approached Exeter Science Centre asking for support with the Exeter Cathedral BioBlitz, we had little expectation that it would lead to mutually beneficial collaboration on three very different projects. Natalie, Alice, Ross and the team have been fantastic to work with and all our events have been enriched by their involvement. Their knowledge and generosity, both with ideas and enthusiasm, makes them ideal partners and we hope to have many more opportunities to work together. “
Exoclimes 2023
30th June 2023
We organised a set of lightning talks at Exeter Guildhall Shopping Centre to celebrate some out-of-this world research! We had 19 Astrophysicists taking part from research institutions across the world, who attended the Exoclimes conference hosted in Exeter this year.
To watch the videos and find out more about the speakers and extra resources, check out the event page here.
Sidmouth Biodiversity Festival
10th June 2023
We brought the Operation Earth show + activities, along with the award-winning film We Are Guardians (in VR) to the first ever Sidmouth Biodiversity Festival!
Couldn’t make it? Don’t worry, we’re touring this event to selected schools, communities and public events thanks to the generous support of the Adrian Swire Charitable Trust (more info on our news page) – so stay tuned!
AI and ChatGPT Livestreams
May 2023
On two evenings in May 2023, we organised a Q&A mini-series about artificial intelligence (AI) and the recently-developed AI chatbot, ChatGPT. We had some really wide-ranging discussions about the implications of AI for individuals and society, as well as exploring how these technologies are being developed and regulated.
You can re-watch the first livestream with Michelle Bieger here, and the second with Roger Taylor here.
Somerscience 2023
1st May 2023
On Monday 1st May, we had a stand at the very first Somerscience festival in Castle Cary, Somerset!
We had a fantastic day speaking to nearly 500 visitors, with the Operation Earth family show and a set of tabletop activities, including a microscopic moss and soil safari, guessing what’s in the mystery boxes, making wildflower seed plant pots and doodling on our tablecloth mural – where we asked visitors what they’d like to see in a science centre.
Thanks to our brilliant volunteers Owain, Ellie and Fede for their help throughout the day – Fede took part in ‘I’m a Scientist – Get me out of here’ too!
Find out more about the event on the Somerscience website.
The Great Imagining: Exeter
22nd – 23rd April 2023
We co-designed a rapid-response pop-up event on 22nd-23rd April at the Climate Action Hub in Exeter, alongside Kate Jago (project lead) and Melissa Fayad (Schumacher College) to create this event with support from The House of Fairytales.
It was a fantastic event filled with science, VR, imagining and craftivism, all on the theme of forests + rivers, explored from a beetle’s eye view.
This was one of 5 of The Great Imagining’s Earth Day Activations that took place across the UK and in Kampala, Uganda – follow The Great Imagining for updates on follow-up events!
RAMM Lates
21st April 2023
We had a fantastic time at the RAMM Lates event on Friday 21st April!
We gave a taster of our upcoming exhibition in September and chatted about our plans for the science centre – great to have so much enthusiasm for our plans!
Keep an eye on future RAMM Lates events here: https://rammuseum.org.uk/whats-on/ramm-lates/.
What Gaia means to us: talks from local climate scientists
February 2023
In February 2023, we worked with the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute (GSI) to bring two evenings of climate science to Exeter Cathedral to celebrate Luke Jerram’s Gaia Earth artwork.
11 scientists working at the University of Exeter and Met Office gave an insight into their work on climate – both on Earth, and other planets. We loved their inspiring talks, and meeting over 370 visitors over the two evenings!
Find out more about the event on the Exeter Cathedral website Exeter Cathedral website.
Operation Earth at the RAMM 2023
14th February 2023
We had a fantastic day running the Operation Earth show + hands-on activities at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum on 14th February!
Thanks to our amazing team of volunteers for all their help + for being such inspiring role models!
Sidmouth Science Festival 2022
8th October 2022
The annual Super Science Saturday at Sidmouth Science Festival was on 8th October!
We had lots of visitors to our zone – trying hands-on activities from the Operation Earth Programme on the theme of Biodiversity and Earth Observation, and sharing what they’d like to see in a science centre building.
Thanks so much to our fantastic volunteers for helping us run this event!
Agile Rabbit: Popup Shop of Science and Culture 2022
1st October 2022
We had a great time chatting to visitors at Agile Rabbit’s pop-up at Maketank on Saturday 1st October!
We had lots of leaves on our ideas tree, and doodles on our chalkboard tablecloth responding to ‘What’s your vision of Exeter Science Centre?’ – thanks to everyone who visited, and to our brilliant volunteer Ross for helping all day!
Exeter Library: Big Kids Takeover Day
27th August 2022
We had a mini version of our climate pop up exhibition + performed the Operation Earth Family Show at this fantastic event – thanks to our amazing scientists from the University of Exeter’s Astrophysics group and Global Systems Institute for volunteering with us!
Photo (left-right): Regan, Raphaëlle, Federica, Natalie and Ross.
Dark Skies Week: Facebook Live with Dr Sam Morrell
28th April 2022
It was Dark Skies Week from the 22nd-30th April 2022, and to celebrate it, we chatted to Dr Sam Morrell, an astrophysicist from the University of Exeter! Sam has recently joined a research team looking into how artificial light affects both humans and animals, and we learnt about his research and why people and nature need dark skies at night.
Check out our Knowledge Nibble post for more information and a link to the recording.
Climate Stories Gallery 2022
March 2022
In the run-up to our Climate Observations-themed pop-up in March 2022, we ran a public Climate Stories Gallery. Each month had a different theme:
November 2021: Your climate stories
December 2021: Your vision of a positive future
January 2022: Resolutions for change
February 2022: What makes Earth special?
Pop-up climate exhibition
11th – 21st March 2022
In British Science Week 2022, we ran our very first pop-up exhibition at Maketank in Exeter city centre! The exhibition was created with artists and scientists on the theme of understanding the climate on Earth and other planets.
Check out our event page here to experience the exhibition yourself – virtually!
Festival of Physics
November 2021
We so enjoyed meeting lots of people at the IOP Festival of Physics, hosted at the University of Exeter in November.
It was great to chat to people about their ideas for the Science Centre and share some exciting physics research on using physics to improve cancer detection methods.
Links to a Life “Henrietta Leavitt Day”
October 2021
We linked up with the wonderful Links to a Life team in October and went on tour to five schools across Devon.
Alice was the Science Lead on the project, introducing students from Year 9-11 to the work of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921). The students spent a fantastic day learning about measuring the size of the Universe then watched a brilliant biographical play telling of the life of Henrietta Leavitt.
Sidmouth Science Festival 2021
October 2021
We had a fantastic day at the Sidmouth Science Festival chatting to people about the scientific method, what people would like to see in the Science Centre, battling antibiotic resistance and citizen science. So wonderful to talk to lots of people in person!
Images clockwise from top left: Natalie using mystery boxes to help people understand how science works; Alice, Natalie and our wonderful volunteer Tamzin; Dr Ben Temperton and his student Christian sharing their research on bacteriophages; Alice adding a leaf to our ideas tree!
Sustainable Earth 2021
25th June 2021
On 25th June 2021 we spoke at the brilliant Sustainable Earth 2021 conference at the University of Plymouth. This event brought together researchers, businesses, public sector, community groups and individuals to tackle global and local challenges around the climate emergency. You can watch our presentation here!
School workshops
We’ve been working with Biomedical Physicist Prof. Francesca Palombo and her team from the University of Exeter, to share their research with schools and the public. As part of this public engagement programme, we have been running schools workshops for Year 11-12 students. These workshops highlight the importance of multidisciplinary teams in solving real-world problems, help students to understand the relevance of biology and physics in real world applications and give the students the opportunity to talk to Biomedical Physicists.
The Great Conjunction 2020
21st December 2020
On 21st December Jupiter and Saturn appeared closer in the sky than they had been for 400 years in an event called the Great Conjunction. Alongside the University of Exeter’s Astrophysics group, we livestreamed the event to thousands of people from across the world. You can view the livestream here. We also prepared some videos to explain what it was all about and how to observe it.
Image credit: Patrick Hendry on Unsplash
COVID-19 Vaccine: Ask the Experts
17th December 2020
On the Thursday 17th December at 7:30pm we hosted a live Q&A panel event with the Translational Research Exchange @ Exeter (TREE). This event gave the public an opportunity to ask their COVID-19 related questions to a panel of doctors and scientists from across the South West, with specialisms spanning the COVID-19 vaccine, virus, treatment and testing. The live recording is available here. The panel have also answered some of the questions that they did not have time to answer in the live session, along with questions from school students here.
Image credit: Daniel Schludi on Unsplash.
Art of Science Gallery
17th November – 18th December 2020
We asked the public for submissions of Art that had been inspired by STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine). We got some incredible and diverse entries and they can all be viewed in our beautiful Art of Science Gallery. Thank you to everyone to took part!
Global Science Show
17th November – 18th December 2020
Alice and Natalie were invited to contribute to the Global Science Show (GSS), a monthly event on Twitter featuring science communicators from across the world. This month, the contributions were from science centres in many different countries, run in association with the ASDC. You can read the GSS Twitter thread here, and watch our video contribution here!
Science as Art Gallery
11th – 31st May 2020
During the COVID-19 lockdown, we ran our online Science as Art Gallery to celebrate the beautiful manifestations of “everyday science” in the Public Exhibition, and the fascinating range of research carried out in the South West for our Research Exhibition. Submissions were posted & discussed on social media, and you can view the gallery here!
Tech Exeter Meetup
4th December 2019
This was a busy evening! After the STEAMM Show at the Exeter School of Art, Natalie headed over to the Exeter Phoenix to speak to Tech enthusiasts about her background and the plans for the Science Centre. You can find the slides online here!
ExIST STEAMM Show
4th December 2019
A 5 minute, no-slides pitch of our idea to the public. Fantastic range of speakers and exhibitions, demonstrating how important it is for scientists and artists to work together to communicate their common goal: understanding the universe we find ourselves in.
Sidmouth Science Festival 2019
12th October 2019
We love this festival – it’s an inspiring week of public events including talks and hands-on science demos. Natalie and Sarah had a stand in Kennaway House, speaking to visitors about our plans with some demos and a questionnaire.
Exeter City Futures Connect Event: Skills and Capabilities
17th September 2019
Our first public event! Natalie presented a 5 minute pitch on our idea to create the Exeter Science Centre.
