UNRISK student Celine Tchaghlassian at Chapel Allerton Primary School, Leeds
UNRISK PhD student Celine and James Mckay, UNRISK CDT manager, visited Chapel Allerton Primary School in Leeds for their annual Science Careers Fair, 12 March 2026. The idea is that the children find out about careers in science from various organisations including civil engineers, dentists, pharmaceutical companies, veterinary practices, and University researchers.
James has taken part in this event for several years, liaising with the school to enable CDT students to get a taste of going into schools to do outreach. The school children have also taken part in a Royal Academy of Engineering-funded project led by James educating children about the transition to a zero carbon future.
On the day, each group of 3-4 children spend about five minutes at each stall. On the UNRISK stall the children learned about climate change risks – where are the biggest risks to people? (they had to place a sticker on our inflatable globe). Celine showed them how to do a bit of coding to change map visualisations, and then they played a ‘Jenga’ game, with a group of houses sitting on top, representing a coastal scenario where cliffs are being undermined by sea level rise and more frequent storms. The children had to remove the Jenga blocks and estimate the risks of the houses collapsing – understanding about how climate risks are communicated.
