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I grew up in Suffolk, not far from Cambridge. I have a brother who is responsible for my love of science. When I was about 8, he was studying for his GCSEs and one day in the car he was trying to entertain me on the journey (probably so I would stop annoying him). He started to tell me about these strange things called subatomic particles and explained how the sun burned. Well, I was hooked! I asked for science books for Christmas that year (which I got) and soon got Chemistry and Physics experiment sets as well. He wanted me to study physics, which was his passion, but I got dazzled by the bright lights of chemistry and many years later, I applied to study chemistry at university. I did a four year integrated Master's degree in chemistry at the University of York. I always thought I would go into synthetic chemistry (that's making molecules in the lab) with a particular penchant for polymers, but early in my degree I discovered the wonders of physical chemistry, especially quantum chemistry. I quickly became fascinated by all things computational and theoretical chemistry which resulted in carrying out my Master's project in ab initio magnetic shielding calculations with Peter Karadakov. This love only grew and I was lucky enough to do my PhD in the same field, again at the University of York with Peter Karadakov. During my PhD I did a large amount of undergraduate teaching, both chemistry and maths. Being able to discuss chemistry with such a variety of students and help shape them into (hopefully) future world-leading scientists was a real privilege and very inspiring. For this teaching I was awarded the Chemistry Outstanding Demonstrator of the Year award by the chemistry department, the Demonstrator of the Year award by the university student's union and the Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Award by the university, the latter of which had not been won by a chemistry demonstrator before. I also got involved in science communication, writing for the online science magazine, Experimentation. Throughout my PhD I wrote many science articles and progressed to become Physical Sciences editor, followed by Editor-in-Chief, a position which I still hold now. But of course I still did research! I continued my Master's work studying aromatic and antiaromatic molecules as well as chemical bonding by using magnetic shielding calculations. At the end of my PhD I was awarded the Kathleen Mary Stott prize for excellence in research and science communication. Fast forward to the present and I am currently here at Durham working as a postdoctoral research associate for Paul Sutcliffe in the SPOCK (Scientific Properties of Complex Knots) group based in the Mathematical Sciences department. We work on a mixture of knot related research with input from chemistry, maths, physics and anthropology. It's fascinating and diverse research! I am working mainly on coarse-grained modelling of knotted molecules/systems but also on oscillating chemical reactions. Both areas involve a mixture of chemistry and maths, which is a challenge I really enjoy. I also dabble in computer programming, which is one of my favourite things! In my spare time I enjoy learning languages - well, attempting to anyway (some more successfully than others). I also like kickboxing, fencing and volunteering for the British Red Cross as qualified ambulance crew and a first aid trainer. Back to Portraits |