Anna Perman Hi All! My name is Anna Perman. I'm a Birmingham local but left in 2006 to study Biology at Bristol University and this September I started a masters in Science Communication at Imperial college London. I applied to the x-change basically because I'm a massive geek. I love science. I love talking about science. I love hearing about science. The x-change is a brilliant way to do this away from the classroom or the lecture theatre. My favourite part of the festival was getting the chance to talk to top scientists about areas I have studied, and to find out from them about subjects I know nothing about. Seeing Jim Al-Khalili and Brother Guy Consolmagno (The Pope's astronomer) was great for the celeb factor, but finding out about the effects of hypnosis from Peter Naish was fascinating - as was seeing it in practise! An unusual fact about me is that I know every word to Ant and Dec's single 'Let's get Ready to Rumble'. For your sake though, don't ask me for a demonstration.
Alice Thorpe I’m Alice! I have a BSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of Bath and an MSc in Science, Media and Communication at Cardiff University. I’m currently working as a production assistant at a tv/film production company. I really enjoyed the festival in 2007 (when I recieved a bursary to go ) so really wanted to go again and I thought it would be a great oportunity to meet and network with scientists and science communicators and also be really good for my CV....Plus I love organising stuff :-) My favourite x-change moment was jumping off the steps outside the guild in order to get that perfect picture - my legs still hurt! My favourite speaker has to be comedy mathematician (slash maths comedian)Matt Parker - hilarious! Oh, and I once climbed a 14,980 ft mountain...never again!