What A-Levels did you study?

Chemistry, English and Music at Worksop College, Nottinghamshire. I was always told what an obscure range of subjects I took for A-Levels but it’s amazing how many other scientists I’ve met who are also musicians… so I can’t be that weird, can I?!

Degrees?

I studied for a Masters degree in Chemistry at The University of York and in my final year, took part in a year in industry scheme at Smith & Nephew, a medical device company. I enjoyed being in York so much that I have very nearly finished a PhD in Chemistry which was sponsored by Smith & Nephew too!

My job is…

I am currently writing up my thesis and it certainly has its ups and downs. Your thesis details what you’ve discovered during your PhD and I initially enjoying writing but as the weeks and months went by I discovered I’m far happier being in a lab making different materials.

To fund myself through the last few months of writing up my thesis, I became a freelance science communicator and visit schools and organisations in and around York. During my time at University, I was always involved with science communication and outreach. I decided to branch out alone and have created a series of interactive and informative lectures and workshops for school pupils of various ages.

I also work for a charity and I coordinate programmes in NorthYorkshire which promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects and degree courses by encouraging joint school and industry science-based projects.

There are so many different aspects to the work that I do. I am happiest when I’m juggling lots of different projects and I enjoy getting out and about and working all around the region.

Home is…

I am a country girl at heart so York really is the perfect city; plenty of green open spaces but packed with history and only an hour drive to the east coast. If you’ve never been to York then you should definitely come (no, I don’t work for the tourist board!). I live in a flat just outside the city walls with my lovely boyfriend, Tom.

The story so far….

My grandparents gave me a chemistry set (the very retro ‘Chemistry 90’) when I was about 8 and I was basically hooked after that. A few weeks after getting the present, I was demonstrating a key bit of chemistry to a friend and we somehow managed to spill methyl orange indicator on the dining room carpet. So you could say my chemistry story didn’t get off to the best of starts. After weeks of trying to get it out, my Mum and Dad eventually gave up and just strategically placed the table over the spillage. When we moved house, my Dad cut out the square of carpet and I still have it. I suppose I had to become a chemist from that day onwards. I also had an amazing chemistry teacher at school who was called Mr. Angelosanto- a delightful mix of cultures; with Italian roots and the broadest Geordie accent you’ve ever heard. I’d like to get back in touch with him and thank him for just being so ace back then. I went to York partly on Mr. Angelosanto’s recommendation and the rest, as they say, is history.

Day in the life

I have written up my thesis mainly from home. It’s much quieter than in the office at work with the bonus that the kettle is only in the next room. I usually start working at about 8.45 am and start my day reading and responding to emails but at least three times a week I’ll go swimming before work. I’ll devote some days purely to writing up, others to science communication and I have set days where I work for the charity. I spend my days either researching new ideas for workshops, heading off anywhere in the region to deliver them or meeting new people and developing links which help coordinate the programmes I’m involved with. Networking is a big part of business and I like to keep in touch with previous clients too. 

Pet project

My PhD focused on developing novel silver antimicrobial materials which kill bacteria normally found in wounds, including the hospital superbug, MRSA.

Granulated sugar dissolves quicker in your hot coffee than a block of sugar due to its smaller size and its higher surface area. Therefore, if you make something smaller, it’ll dissolve quicker. I work with nanoparticles (a particle which is a billionth of a metre in diameter). Given that silver kills bacteria by being soluble, making my particles as small as possible is very important. Synthesising and stabilising silver carbonate nanoparticles is what I’m currently up to. It’s not as easy as you think as nanoparticles tend to clump together and form larger particles so it’s taken a while to perfect. My silver carbonate nanoparticles, which have recently been patented, are excellent antimicrobial agents as they release a high concentration of silver and kill bacteria commonly found in wounds over a period of at least 7 days.

Free time

Outside science, my two main passions are music and sport. I play clarinet and alto and soprano saxophone (the straight one!). Once upon a time I played piano and sang too but I’ve not played for years and only confine myself to some serious shower singing nowadays. I’ve leant some pretty strange instruments in my time including the miniscule piccolo and the gigantic church organ. I swim as often as I can as well as going to the gym, playing racquet sports and going fell walking in the Lake District.

What are your burning ambitions?

I’d like to swim the channel at some point. There are parts of it I’ll probably hate like the bit in the middle where you have to swim through all the stuff which collects there and dodging the big boats and the even bigger fish can’t be much fun. I imagine I’d feel great (and freezing) when I get to the other side though. I’ve just got to first pluck up the courage to swim through all that creepy seaweed which sends a shiver down my spine.

The best thing is…..

I love my work because the science is so varied and as people become more aware of hospital superbugs, my work becomes even more relevant. I really enjoy communicating science because you get to enthuse potentially the next generation of scientists and it sounds cheesy but it’s so rewarding when you hear that the pupil’s new favourite subject is science.

Any regret(s)?

Nah, life’s too short. Everything in life happens for a reason.

What do you love most about science and engineering?

I enjoy letting my imagination run wild, meeting people, talking about exciting science and devising new experiments.

Name ONE quirky/crazy fact about you or your job.

It’s a bit of a debated topic and it’s not the most widely accepted reason but some people believe the term ‘blue blood’ when applied to royalty has a silver connection. In the past, it was only the very wealthy and very rich who could afford silver. They thought of it as an elixir of life and started using it in vast quantities, including drinking solutions of the stuff. This led to silver poisoning called Argyria and resulted in a blue-ish tinge to the skin, hence blue blood! Maybe that’s what the Smurfs suffered from?!