Photographer Eamonn McGoldrick

Graeme Jones is chemical ecologist at Keele University who has a passion for public science.  In 2002 he led the team that built the Guinness World Record making model of DNA in Stoke.  The models in Molecules Matter were originally created for Molecular Mardi Gras a street level science carnival in 2005 complete with molecules the size of houses, Molly Cool and Mr and Miss Molecular.   Basically he is mad about molecules, the bigger the better. In 2005 he was awarded a NESTA Dreamtime Fellowship to develop his talents as a science entertainer.  His ambition is to create a vibrant science culture accessible to all.

What Graeme Says

Molecules Matter has been a real adventure for me.  It is the first time I have done a static exhibition that has lasted for more than a week and which I leave all alone to speak for itself.  Interestingly I find it very a stimulating and creative experience to go back and see it for myself as a member of the public and it has already seeded some new ideas in my head. 

It might not look it but it is an exhibition which is very personal to me and I am passionate about it.  We scientists often get portrayed as people without emotion and feeling, but with Molecules Matter I feel very exposed and quite afraid about what people will say.  The first people I spoke to about the exhibition hated it and said why are you putting these ugly plastic structures amongst these beautiful plants.  To be honest I was so gobsmacked and the people were so nice that I didn't try to persuade them otherwise at the time, but on reflection there would be no beauty without real molecules and maybe the ugliness of the models reminds us of that.

Some of the plant and molecule choices are obvious, like the caffeine in coffee, others are there to illustrate the interests of the garden such as the Dragons Blood pigments and others are important for me, like the Biblical Molecules and In the Beginning which was all about the primordial soup we all come from.   I am really interested in the similarity of the problems that Western Christianity and Science have, hence the biblical molecules, and I hope to explore this more down at the BA festival in Norwich - see you there.

	Click the NESTA logo for information about Graeme and his NESTA dreamtime award
	Click the Keele logo for information about Graeme and his teaching and research