biology

Joanna Verran

Joanna Verran is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Joanna Verran rather than just read about it. In short: Joanna Verran is an Emeritus Professor of Microbiology and Head of Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). She studies the interaction of microorganisms with inert surfaces.

Key takeaways

Joanna Verran belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Joanna Verran to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Joanna Verran from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Joanna Verran is an Emeritus Professor of Microbiology and Head of Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). She studies the interaction of microorganisms with inert surfaces. She was awarded the 2019 AAAS Award for Public Engagement with Science.

Early life and education Verran studied maths, biology and chemistry at A-level. She studied bacteriology and virology and the University of Manchester and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1977. She went on to earn a Master of Science (MSc) degree in 1978 followed by a PhD in 1981. Her postgraduate research was based on Streptococcus mutans.

Career and research Verran works on the interactions of microorganisms with surfaces including food preparation surfaces, water pipes and dentures at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has looked at the pathogenicity of Candida albicans and how it relates to stomatitis. She recognised that the properties of surfaces affected the retention of cells, and began to investigated the topography and chemistry of surfaces. She was the academic lead for a Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) LINK project that worked with Unilever, AstraZeneca, studying the impact of wear on the ability to clean food surfaces. She developed atomic force microscopy to evaluate the attachment of microorganisms to work surfaces. The project informed European Commission funded PathogenCombat, which informed small and medium-sized enterprises about food hygienic preparation. She served as President of the International Biodeterioration Biodegradation Society between 2006 and 2009. Verran was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2011 and is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). She was involved in the creation of the National Subject Profile in Microbiology. She published An Atlas of Biodeterioration in 2013. She contributed to Effective Learning in the Life Sciences: How Students Can Achieve Their Full Potential. Verran became interested in the intersection of science and the arts; supporting students to engage with different disciplines. In 2009 Verran launched the Bad Bugs Book Club which looks to engage people with microbiology and infectious diseases. The book club is open to the scientists and non-scientists. She held a Bad Bugs Book Club at the British Science Association Science Communication Conference in 2015. The book club was a case study in Science Communication: A Practical Guide for Scientists. Verran has used zombies and vampires that can act as models of infectious diseases, and demonstrated the exhibit at Cheltenham Science Festival. She has researched effective means of evaluating science communication. She launched the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) science communication Master's program in 2016. Verran has been involved with the Bradford Literature Festival and Manchester Children's Book Festival. She has written for The Conversation. She has explored how educational interventions can impact adolescent opinions of vaccinations.

Awards and honours Her awards and honours include:

2019 AAAS Award for Public Engagement with Science 2011 National Teaching Fellowship from the HEA 2011 Society for Applied Microbiology Communications Award 2006 Society for General Microbiology Award for Innovation in Microbiology Education 2023 FEMS Science Communication Award

Personal life Verran is married with two children.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Joanna Verran

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Joanna Verran claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Joanna Verran before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Joanna Verran ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Joanna Verran

In research: Joanna Verran appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Joanna Verran in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Joanna Verran is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century British scientists, 20th-century British women scientists, 21st-century British scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Joanna Verran outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Joanna Verran in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Joanna Verran means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Joanna Verran out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Joanna Verran in simple terms?

Why does Joanna Verran matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Joanna Verran?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Joanna Verran.