AFBI's strong showing at the Science Festival

Date published: 23 January 2017

The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) will play a leading role in the Northern Ireland Science Festival this year, featuring at no fewer than five events!

AFBI will feature in the Science Festival roadshows touring Northern Ireland, bringing interactive science displays to Dungannon, Enniskillen, Newry and Coleraine, as well as an open day at our Hillsborough research farm.

AFBI plant pathologists will run a botanical crime scene investigation workshop at the first roadshow, followed by our freshwater fisheries scientists presenting invaders to Lough Erne and the impact they are having on the natural ecosystem. At the third event, our food researchers will be asking people to guess how much carbohydrate, fat and protein is in common foods you might have in your kitchen.  Our last roadshow will have our marine fisheries researchers demonstrating what swims beneath the waves around the NI coast, some “nippy” characters, and how to age a fish.

The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute also invite you to come and see the work of our agricultural scientists at first hand on our working research farm in Hillsborough, County Down.

You’ll see how our research uses the latest technologies to find ways of making livestock farming more efficient while still protecting their health and welfare and minimising their environmental footprint.  You will see how we help our calves get the best start in life, how we investigate ways to make our dairy cows as content and productive as possible and how animal slurries are used to produce heat and power for the farm.  This is just part of the work you will see on how AFBI science is helping our farming industry become even better.