Had fun meeting the potential students and their parents today at Open Day. My ‘lab’ is usually on the moor, but stepped out of my comfort zone, with help from colleagues from Earth Science – especially Dave Early teaching technician – and student ambassadors, who were rewarded with trays of leftover food to take home.

Prospective students brought tapwater from their homes with them to test it for nitrates and compare with the 50ppm threshold. Most were pretty low – the highest nitrate levels were found in Ascot and the lowest in Edinburgh. What can this mean?