14 THE KNOW
The Conversation
As a member university of The Conversation, Keele academics and PhD students have the opportunity to contribute editorial-style articles for digital publication.
Conversation articles tend to be short, at around 700-words long, and can either be about topical issues or directly connected to research findings. As The Conversation is a not-for-profit charity operating with creative commons, these articles can subsequently be republished in national newspapers all over the world – in the past 12 months, Keele academics have written 75 articles, which have been read by almost 1.5 million people worldwide.
Dr Janet Hoole has written seven articles for The Conversation – making her Keele’ s most published author on the platform. Here she shares her experiences of writing for the network:
Dr Janet Hoole
For more stories go to theconversation. com / uk
“ After I wrote my first article, I was contacted by BBC Radio to take part in an interview; I’ ve now written seven articles and have done several radio interviews, and many of my articles have been picked up by newspapers – including the i newspaper and the New Zealand Herald. So my articles have had a lot of exposure all over the world, which is fantastic. I’ d really recommend any academic or PhD student to consider writing for them – it’ s been a great experience for me and created lots of opportunities.”
Dr Janet Hoole
Here’ s a selection of some of the thought-provoking articles written by Keele women in the last 12 months.
1
What happens when you age – a scientist debunks popular myths about sex and brain power Dr Dana Rosenfeld
People over the age of 65 make up a larger percentage of the global population than ever before. As this ageing of society only really took off in the last century, it’ s unsurprising that much of what we think we know about ageing is untrue...
2
Ten‘ stealth microplastics’ to avoid if you want to save the oceans Dr Sharon George and Dr Deirdre McKay
Theresa May’ s new environment plan sets ambitious goals for plastic waste reduction. But there’ s lots of room for slippage. One goal is to eradicate all“ avoidable” plastic waste, though it’ s not clear how“ avoidable” will be defined...
3
Do cats purr when humans aren’ t around? Dr Janet Hoole
Why do cats purr? Humans tend to think that purring is a sign of happiness in a cat – and indeed it can be – but there are other reasons why our feline friends produce this particular vocalisation...
4
How does a country become a country? An expert explains Dr Rebecca Richards
Within the space of a week last autumn, the people of Catalonia and Kurdistan were asked if they wanted to live in an independent country. If referendums result in declarations of independence, what happens next? It may seem straightforward, but it’ s not that simple...
5
Come on, Mr Trump – you can’ t claim credit for another president’ s successes Dr Gabriella Legrenzi
Since almost immediately after his inauguration as 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump has been claiming credit for what he sees as a miraculous recovery in the nation’ s economy. Barely a day goes by without a tweet trumpeting a new jobs deal or the strength of the US stock market. But how much credit is actually due to his administration?