Tuesday 24 May 2016

Ladies Who Lab #1


As a student of science I make observations on a daily basis and there has been one that always stands out to me: gender. Now I am not going to debate about women’s rights and gender inequality, which is a whole can of worms I don’t wish to open. However, I am passionate about scientific outreach and encouraging young girls to discover science and to peak their interest. So here begins my new monthly segment: Ladies Who Lab. Starting with myself this month I will hopefully regale you with fun and inspiring stories from women of science. The how, the what and the why!


Watching ‘The Weakest Link’ and when asked his profession the contestant answers “an ice cream scientist”. I turn to my mother, that’s what I want to do when I am older! This is the earliest memory I have of wanting to go into the scientific profession although admittedly given my age I was probably more excited about the prospect of trying new ice cream flavours than I was about science. I must have had some interest though as I do remember owning a mini science kit and a crystal growing set.

Moving onto school I was just going through the motions learning the standard primary school lessons: reading, counting and writing. 
Of course this progressed onto poetry, other languages and more complicated calculus that my later years of primary school had in store. I also remember the standard science lessons: placing a car at the top of an incline to demonstrate potential and kinetic energy, growing plants and bending water with a ruler. These were all very well and exciting but mostly because they were physical activities I didn’t care much for the science behind them. I had a dream though, become a dancer on the West End stage. I took weekly classes and I loved it.


Then at the latest years of school, studying gets more serious and at the mere age of 16 you need to start thinking about careers and deciding what your future will look like. Exams brought upon stress and extracurricular activities are a luxury you can’t afford to waste time on. So goodbye dance classes and goodbye dream of back up dancing in musicals…I wasn’t that good anyway! I’ll keep my moves for busting out at parties. That shifted by focus onto using my brain which lead to studying Psychology at university. That idea came crashing down in a ball of fire when I had a panic attack because I had never studied it before it just seemed interesting to me. I then asked myself the question, what am I good at? The answer: CHEMISTRY. A passion was then ignited like a classroom Bunsen burner leading to on to university where I graduated with an honours degree. The thirst for knowledge wasn’t quite quenched though so I studied an MSc in Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing which lead me on a scientific path I never thought I would be on. The past that I am now on today, a PhD! It is stressful but it suits my independent nature and I can learn new things day in day out through collaboration and self-study.



So I guess what I am saying is science might not be your dream in school but it can be. What you might find boring could actually open up a passion that you never thought you had. I wanted to be a dancer and now I am far from it. I have even moved onto a branch of science I didn’t expect.

Are you in a career you didn’t expect? Did you like science or maybe still do?

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33 comments

  1. I am in the career that I wanted to be in but it is amazing how choices can change over the years. What style of dancer were you?

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    1. I was mostly a tap dancer but also done freestyle and a bit of contemporary

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    2. That is pretty cool! I am more of a free-styler and am influenced by Latin dance, hip hop and house dance i.e. cutting shapes.

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  2. Quite a few of my friends did science degrees which is quite unusual. I don't really think I knew what I wanted to do when I was younger x

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  3. I never knew I could earn a living as a writer. I thought I would be a lawyer.

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  4. My life has taken some twists and turns but everything has happened for a reason. I have two degrees and have gone from working in a legal field to working for myself as a private tutor. No regrets at all!

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  5. It's funny how life never pans out as you expected but as long as you're doing something that you are passionate about it doesn't matter how you arrived there :)

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  6. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was younger. I studied to be a criminologist and now I am a full-time blogger.

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  7. I was always hopeless at science, it just never interested me at all, though I do like the idea of being a scenes of crime officer x

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  8. Oh wow. I never liked science if I am honest. I am just blogging at the moment at home whilst my partner works full time x

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  9. My kids both love science and I have a passion for food science, it's great knowing how and why things work:-)

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  10. I loved science when I was younger and I actually wanted to work in a science field when I got older but life didn't pan out that way x

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  11. I wish I liked science, but I don't. At all. I think experiments are really cool, but when it comes to chemistry, I'm a goner.

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  12. When I was in primary school I thought I would be an accountant by the time I was in high school I had moved to science until I graduated from university and now doing the best 'science' job ever working for a pharmaceutical company.

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  13. I loved science when I was at school - even though I didn't have very nice teachers! x

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  14. I went through phases career wise when I was younger. A nurse. A fashion designer . A Olympic athlete!

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  15. I love science I find it very interesting and really enjoyed it at school.

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  16. I used to like some science, other bits just went over my head I am sorry to say. x

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  17. I used to love science, still do, I find it so interesting! I did really well in my GCSE sciences (two A*s and an A) and would have loved to take it to A level but I realised that I love learning about it and I don't actually like doing the practicals :/

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  18. I loved science when I was at school. Especially Chemistry, I loved doing the experiments and using the Bunsen Burners. Well done on your degree!

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  19. I loved science as a kid and I hope that my daughter does too. She's really into pond dipping, planets and anything animal related so we're off to a good start!

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  20. I loved science at school and college and I specialised in them because I was just so passionate about it all. I got in to university but then, much to my parent's dismay, I met my boyfriend, moved in with him and didn't go! Luckily, 8 years on, we're still together and I don't regret it at all but I do wonder what might have been!
    Best of luck with your PHD you clever lady! X X

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  21. Haha, love the picture at the end - making important breakthroughs with the use of Raman mapping! :)

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  22. I can't imagine the weakest link inspiring me to do anything xD An ice cream scientist does sound fascinating, I would have been inspired by that too! I'm going to look that up now!

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  23. i used ot loe science it must feel pretty awesome to do something many dont still

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  24. I loved sciences at school (especially Chemistry) and gave them all up by GCSEs, I really regret that now!

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  25. I'm definitely in a totally different career- I was on track to working in fraud or as a barrister. Now I'm a glorified clothes horse lol xxx

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  26. My career is totally different to what I originally wanted to do. As a teen I wanted to be an investigative journalist but then after studying human biology at school I wanted to be a doctor. Somehow I ended up a nurse & am know studying journalism.

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  27. I always adore these people on this field, especially girls. They look cool! :)

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  28. i love to see women following their dreams and getting stuff done. I've got to admit I'm doing what I always wanted on some level but then my feelings change on a day by day basis lol

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  29. That is great to read. Thank you for sharing such an insight into your career path so far. I wanted to be a songwriter growing up :-) - I am currently in digital marketing (have been for nearly 10 years!)

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  30. I loved science at school but sadly hated the research part at university. It was a horrible horrible shock to me as I had assumed I would work in research.

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  31. I couldn't stand Science at school. I always loved languages and it was no surprise when I decided to become a French teacher.

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