Hear from colleagues who volunteered to contribute to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), find out about their role and what they enjoyed about it. It's a chance to see some of the activity that went on behind the scenes to help make the IBO a success.

Behind the scenes with...

Dr Charlotte Moonan
Business Development and Marketing Officer
School of Life Sciences

Role for the International Biology Olympiad: Helper with Physiology exam

My usual job involves…
developing business related to Life Sciences education provision, for example working on new course development. I am responsible for advertising and marketing our undergraduate and postgraduate courses to ensure we hit recruitment targets. I am also involved in scholarship promotion and selection and I’ve recently been developing some new videos to inspire potential students to study Biology by highlighting some of our world class research.

During the International Biology Olympiad I…
worked with the Developmental Physiology exam team in the Chemistry labs. I was originally only responsible for the distribution and collection of the exam papers but we were so busy that I also helped setting out exam stations and, of course, clearing up afterwards. I even aliquoted solutions into eppendorfs although I haven’t used a pipette in years.

I really enjoyed being involved with…
working as part of the team. It was hectic, and a 12 hour day on your feet is tiring but I was happy to help the University of Warwick and School of Life Sciences host such a successful event.

The International Biology Olympiad is unique because…
it brings young biologists from all over the world together and hopefully inspires them to take up a career in Biology.

Not everyone knows that…
it took 15 van loads from Life Sciences to Chemistry and Physics to set up the practical exams.

Hear from other colleagues behind the scenes