I really enjoy public outreach and there is no better way than the pint of science events, held in May every year.

This year, I was asked to do a talk for the Darlington Pint of Science event and I dreamt up the title of ‘Leather – the plastic of the roman era’. Firstly, I love archaeological leather and second, I love the romans! I am not quite sure what I was thinking when i dreamt up the title, but I think my thoughts were around the the large amount of leather which still survives today, and thinking about how romans used leather, then linking that to what will people find from us in 2000 years!

We went on a rollercoaster during the talk, from different shoes, to what you would take camping, and then explored how you could differentiate leather species using mass spectrometry.. that is alot in 20 mins!

Pleasure to be on the stage with Dr Caroline Orr and Dr Zoe Bell