Hayley Bennett
Hayley Bennett is a freelance science writer specialising in biology, chemistry and the environment, with features published in The Guardian, BBC Science Focus, New Scientist, Nature, Chemistry World, Education in Chemistry and Significance.
She is the auhtor of The big questions in science and 50 chemistry ideas you really need to know, and edited The story of science by Michael Moseley. Hayley has worked in communications teams for the UK’s national data science and AI institute, The Alan Turing Institute, and the European Commission’s Science for Environment Policy news service. Alongside writing she has had an eclectic career in creative science communication, curating science-inspired content for a solar-powered stage at Green Man Festival and developing workshops and community events that bring together artists and scientists. In her spare time, she runs, knits and drinks way too many flat whites.
FeatureMake flexible working work for you and your school
See how other schools and trusts flex working arrangements to recruit and retain skilled teachers
FeatureSniffing out the science of smells
What makes a bad smell smell bad? Sniff out the chemical culprits behind obnoxious odours
ArticleThe chemistry behind leaves changing colour and falling from trees
Explore what causes the seasonal shift in foliage and how to use this as context when teaching colour changes
FeatureVitamin supplements
What’s in them, why we need them and how you can use them to teach titration
FeatureWhat links chemistry, cakes and colour?
Discover how regulations spoil the look of our sweet treats – and the chemistry behind it all
FeatureThe science behind sustainable home insulation
Are plastics the best option for saving energy in our homes, as well as saving the planet?
FeatureDecomposition in daily life
Introduce your students to some applications of decomposition reactions: clean energy, bleach and baking
FeatureWhat are you swimming in?
Swimming pool disinfection is essential for public health but carries some risks of its own
FeatureToiletries and cosmetics: what’s on the label?
What do all those terms on the ingredients list mean?
SoundbitePolymer chemistry is printing noses
Learn more about a novel application of polymer chemistry to help reconstruct the faces of skin cancer patients
SoundbiteThe race for fast-charging cars
Learn how chemists are redesigning batteries to create new, fast-charging options for the future electric cars
SoundbiteBattle of the hand sanitisers
Are quaternary ammonium compounds just as good at killing Covid-19 as alcohols?
FeatureYour place or mine? The local business of lithium mining
Lithium-ion batteries will power the next generation of electric cars, but how can we mine lithium with minimal impact on the environment?
FeatureConcrete solutions to sustainable materials
Enhance your teaching of materials and explore how new types of concrete could reduce carbon emissions
FeatureCoronavirus: should we be sanitising our shopping?
Chemists are busily working out how long Covid-19 remains viable on various surfaces – here’s what we know so far
Magnificent moleculesSulfur hexafluoride
A gas widely used in electrical devices with 23,500 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide