Who inspired my thinking? – The co-factor: conversation, collaboration, co-production

Abstract

I find it impossible to identify one public engagement, organization or population who has ‘inspired my thinking’. Reflecting on my public engagement activities over the past 10–15 years, I know that without the partners I worked with, my thinking would have been much more limited, our events might have been non-existent, and they would have been less effective, less innovative – and far less fun! So, they have been my inspiration. My research focuses on the interactions occurring between microorganisms and inert surfaces, so I collaborate with engineers, polymer chemists, physicists and so on. They know about the surfaces, and I know about the microorganisms, so we study the interactions together. Within the sciences, different approaches and terminologies are used, which often need clarification. One particular grumble was the loose usage of the term ‘biofilm’: microorganisms attached onto dry surfaces were unlikely to grow, whereas in the presence of nutrition and moisture, they can replicate to produce biofilm. I learnt to listen carefully to ensure that we were talking about the same mode of survival, since it would significantly affect any antimicrobial effect of a surface on the viability of attached cells. This also helped me to recognize my own lack of expertise in other subjects, and to avoid making assumptions. Communication, then, beginning I encouraged such