Dr. Phil Smith

Scientist & science educator who runs Teacher Scientist Network, science education charity working with teachers and scientists to enhance science teaching

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

New Year, new start perhaps?? How about this for bluesky thinking ... please join me on other platforms where we will be continuing to focus our energies supporting science education across all communities in a friendly, professional and energetic way. @TSNphil.bsky.social

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

Great results, loving the red cells. If you're interested #teachers transform E.coli cells with a gene for #rfp (red fluorescent protein) and the gene is expressed under specific conditions. Next time they run the same labs with their students

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Lovely results here for @CRC_College #amgenbiotechexperience participants. Find out how your school or college can participate in this amazing programme - https://t.co/YYAPq3fS9T

#teacher #technician #PCR #DNAfingerprinting @ABEProgOffice @TSNPhil

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

It seems to come round quicker each year, but that's no bad thing #biotechexperience at our #Herts hub . New #teachers and some new #schools joining the queue for the microwave as we think about #ABE in the classroom and students staying "on task" in #practicalscience @STEM_UH

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Summer CPD is underway for ABE UK. Participating secondary schools and colleges will soon be booking their free kit loan! This could be your school! Register interest here: https://t.co/U53HyHemqO #ABEProgOffice #TSNPhil #STEM_UH

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

Just a few weeks to go until our busy period of #CPD #FREE #biotechexperience being held in #Cambridge #Hull and of course #Norwich #teachers join the programme now, no prior experience needed

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

Thanks to #teachers and #technicians @ExeterCollege for making this possible for so many students

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Exeter College bring ABE to life 🧬
ABE CPD‑trained staff using kit loans to deliver PCR & gel electrophoresis to 250+ students 😊
Busy, but brilliant!
@tsnphil
@STEM_UH
@ABEProgOffice

Find out more about the programme here: https://t.co/XhXBLxWifL

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

A lovely piece from OCR on the importance of practical DNA work in A Level Biology and the role of real lab experience in building skills & confidence in young scientists.

Featuring the Amgen Biotech Experience. 🧬

https://t.co/YrIZ4joIdj

@STEM_UH
@ABEProgOffice
@TSNphil

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Hatfield Course 1 now full for summer Amgen Biotech CPD sessions. Places remain in Hull, MidKent, Cambridge and Norwich (and for Course 2 in Hatfield) - learn the skills, loan the kit, easy (and free) - click that mouse! https://t.co/d74R7XL1OU
@STEM_UH
@ABEProgOffice

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

Teachers deserve more than 7 days of acknowledgement for all they do, but it's a start ...

[Amgen Biotech Experience (ABE) Program Office @ABEProgOffice]

This #TeacherAppreciationWeek, we’re celebrating our amazing ABE teachers who bring #biotechnology to life for more than 90K students in nearly 20 countries each year. Thank you for inspiring curiosity, empowering students & igniting a lifelong passion for science and #biotech!

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

Trump just fired all 24 members of the National Science Board. Every single one. By email. No warning. No reason given. The board has existed since 1950.

The National Science Board is the independent body that oversees the National Science Foundation, the agency that distributes $9 billion in research grants every year.

Its members are scientists and engineers from universities and industry. They serve six-year staggered terms specifically so they cross presidential administrations and stay independent of whoever is in power.

On Friday, every single one of them got the same boilerplate email from Mary Sprowls of the Presidential Personnel Office: "On behalf of President Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service."

That's it. That's the whole letter. For 76 years of institutional independence.

The NSF funds the basic science behind MRIs. Cellphones. LASIK eye surgery. GPS. The internet itself. The Antarctic research stations. The deep-space telescopes. The research vessels mapping the ocean floor. Every breakthrough that made America the world's leader in science for the better part of a century traces back through grants this agency made and this board approved.

The board chair, Victor McCrary, was actively advising Congress on Trump's proposed 55% cut to NSF's budget. The board was helping fight back. So Trump fired the board.

Marvi Matos Rodriguez, one of the fired members, told reporters she had been reviewing an 80-page report as part of her board duties just days before being terminated.

Keivan Stassun, a physicist at Vanderbilt, said NSF's leadership had already stopped responding to board oversight requests months ago. "We would ask them, 'Are you following board governance directives?' And their answer would be, in effect, 'We don't listen to you anymore.'"

Now there's no board to answer to.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House Science Committee, called it "the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation. Will the president fill the NSB with MAGA loyalists who won't stand up to him as he hands over our leadership in science to our adversaries?"

That's the actual question.

Because while Trump is firing American scientists, China is building research universities at a rate we cannot match. The CDC just buried a study showing vaccines work.

RFK Jr. runs HHS. The EPA is gutted. The Forest Service is being broken. Half of American children are breathing dangerous air. And now the people who decide what gets researched in the United States have all been fired by email on a Friday afternoon.

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Calling science teachers and technicians in secondary schools and colleges - bookings open for summer Amgen Biotech CPD sessions in Hatfield, Hull, MidKent, Cambridge and Norwich - learn the skills, loan the kit, easy (and free)!
https://t.co/IoUDp068Uz
@STEM_UH
@ABEProgOffice

[Stalham Infant & Junior Schools @StaInfantJunior]

Friends of Stalham Schools-Wellbeing at Stalham Schools, has been chosen as one of three local good causes in the Tesco Stronger Starts scheme at Tesco Stalham. When shopping at Tesco Stalham, please drop your blue token(s) into the Friends of Stalham Schools slot. Thank you!

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

@STEM_UH I'm in the taxi, on my way!!

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

And I'm really looking forward to sharing details about this wonderful project with new #teachers #CPD #KITLOAN

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Are you attending #ase26 today? Eddie and @TSNphil will be speaking about #biotechexperience @ 11:15 in Pope LT C17

[Amgen Biotech Experience (ABE) Program Office @ABEProgOffice]

Happy New Year from ABE! Huge thanks to the teachers, students, lab techs, program site staff, and partners who make ABE possible. Here’s to another year of learning and discovery!

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

Really excited to share this!! #CPD

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

UK-based #science #teachers and #technicians - join us at the Wellcome Genome campus in March for a free conference on biotechnology in the classroom, @ABEProgOffice and @STEM_UH in partnership with @yourgenome

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

Thought provoking article on @BBCnews recently that would make the basis of a great #ethical discussion linked to #DNAtechnology Should Hitler's DNA have been studied? - BBC News looking at recent C4 documentary @ABEProgOffice #biotechexperience

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

Really looking forward to delivering this session and sharing the #impact #biotechexperience can have in #vocational #education

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

#biotechexperience is a great #support for #Tlevels? To learn more join @TSNphil & @alison_ackroyd sharing their knowledge at FREE online #Industryinsight event, organised by @E_T_Foundation Wed, Dec 10th 2025 2pm – 3:30pm. https://t.co/9aMK4a4BBh Treat yourself! #CPD

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

ABE UK network meeting - exploring precision medicine - 3rd December 2025 - 16:00 to 17:00. Book via Eventbrite now: https://t.co/7mQgxYc2G6 #ABE #UniOfHerts @ABEProgOffice @STEM_UH

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

This a great opportunity to join a wonderful #community #teachers who all want to bring #practicalscience #biotech into their schools

[Centre for STEM Education @STEM_UH]

ABE Course 1: Intro to DNA manipulation. Free CPD for teachers and technicians at University of Hull, 4th Nov 2025, using MiniOne kit. Book now: https://t.co/4CmMCHSzA0 #ABEProgOffice #UniOfHull #UniOfHerts #CPD #EastRiding #NELincs @chatbiology

[Dr. Phil Smith @TSNphil]

@SabriPllana With my @EuroGeosciences hat on there may be some opportunities, particularly for #dissemination #outreach #engagement #schools if appropriate