Engaging with the public

Beyond activities in schools we engage with the wider public in a number of ways to illustrate the research that we do and to offer comment on current animal health issues. You can read more about the practical value of our research in the Economic and Social Impact section.

We host meetings of farmers? organisations, including on our farm. In addition to providing facilities and refreshments for their business meetings, we show them around the Institute, and our farm managers and scientists explain what they are doing and answer questions. On other occasions our staff go to farmers? meetings around the country. Most recently this has been to discuss bluetongue with livestock farmers.

Local politicians have visited both our Pirbright and Compton campuses on a number of occasions, as have journalists from both local and national media ? newspapers, magazines, radio and TV. You can see our recent press releases here. We have issued many press releases about the disease bluetongue, which first occurred in neighbouring countries in 2006 and which came to part of the UK in 2007. Our scientists and technicians who work on bluetongue have given lots of their time to help journalists inform the country at large, and farmers in particular, about this disease. Avian influenza is another topic that we have commented on via the media.