Well guys, I made it! it’s been emotional to say the least! From that first panicked chat session, where it seemed impossible to keep up with all your enthusiastic questions, to the final offline questions I answered right up to 3 pm on the final day.

I’d like to offer a huge “well-done” to all the students that took part in the competition in general and in the Helium Zone specifically. Some of the questions we received in chat sessions and as offline questions were truly remarkable. From the very deep “why do we grow” to the remarkably specific “If the poor farmers got more money would they care more about the gorillas in the national park”. I know for sure that all of the questions really got us scientists thinking. Not only this, but it got us to think in a new way. It forced us to think about our work from a different angle, and so has made our science better. In other words, you’re all already scientists!

I was so glad to see the quality of the participation as well. It made me happy to think that science is well on its way to becoming a major part of some of your lives. And with the money you guys have chosen to give me, you will be seeing a lot more of us scientists in schools near you very soon!

Never stop asking questions guys (no matter how stupid you think they may be…). You’ve all got so much potential, now go and fix a little bit of our world!

Best wishes,

Shane