Engagement activities

We run a wide-ranging programme of public engagement activities in addition to our work with the media. Our lab at the John Krebs Field Station, Wytham, is home to our flying team of five Harris' Hawks – Drogon, Rhaegal, Toothless, Charmander, and Ruby - and our colony of zebra finches used for experiments on learning. We welcome visits from schools and youth groups by prior arrangement.

We opened our lab to the public in 2022 as part of the Oxford Science + Ideas Festival Animal Senses Zone. This builds on a collaboration "Digital Body: Ascent" involving the Parasol Dance Project for disabled and non-disabled young people, the Alexander Whitley Dance Company, and iF-Oxford. See the beautiful video that resulted from this collaboration here.

For a science podcast aimed at school kids, listen here to our Tumble science podcast on peregrine falcons. Recent team member Inés Dawson also hosts her Draw Curiosity website and YouTube video channel to stimulate and entertain curiosity with interesting science.

Every year, our lab hosts visits from Oxford’s UNIQ programme, which aims to help students studying at UK state schools and colleges to take informed decisions about higher education by offering hand-on experiences of study and research. See the great video here for our students' perspectives on what the Biology course at Oxford has to offer, including some footage of the Wytham Flight Lab, which all of our undergraduates visit in the first year of their course, and where every year we host undergraduates for their final research projects.