The University of Exeter’s Dr Betina Winkler presented her research at the Daphne Jackson Trust research conference after she ended a career break wth the help of a fellowship from the Trust. Betina told us more…

This was the second research conference the Daphne Jackson trust organised and it was a great success. It took place at the Royal Society, London on October 25 and provided a great opportunity for the fellows to present their research.

The trust currently supports 42 fellows and most of them took part on the conference. Many universities and sponsoring organisations were also present.

The research presented encompassed a wide variety of disciplines and the quality was amazing. The prize for the best poster was won by Dr Tamsin Majerus of Nottingham University for her study on ‘Comparative genomics of colour-pattern variation in the two-spot and ten-spot ladybirds, Adalia bipunctata and Adalia decempunctata’.

The prize for best oral presentation went for Dr M. Maskey of Newcastle University for her presentation on ‘Using virtual reality environments to reduce anxiety in young people with autism’.

I gave an oral presentation on my research on ‘Habitat characteristics and the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle’. The response was very positive and attracted a lot of interest.

The conference always provides a great opportunity for the fellows to meet and exchange their experiences. There was a time allocated for networking and looking at the poster session.

It is inspiring to meet so many talented researchers  working hard to restart their careers after a break.