What attracted you to Oceanography?  

I was fascinated by a subject that would allow me to continue learning about Chemistry, Biology and Physics of the natural world in one degree that has real-world applications. I had grown up near the coast with a family history of sailors and fishermen and have always felt a connection with the ocean.

Can you tell us about your career journey?  

During my degree, I took a year out to complete an internship at the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool which was mostly computer-based. I enjoyed the year and it cemented my decision to continue working in the field. It also helped me to realise that I preferred laboratory-based work to desk-based work. In the final year of my undergraduate degree, I began to apply for PhDs that had a focus on Marine Biogeochemistry. I contacted four supervisors based at institutions across the UK to discuss their advertised PhD projects and I successfully obtained a Natural Environment Research Council scholarship to pursue a PhD on trace metal biogeochemistry at the University of Liverpool.

Following a postdoc and fellowship in France after my PhD, I now have a permanent position as Lecturer in Oceanography at the University of Liverpool. I am still involved in many of the research projects that I was engaged with during my postdoc and fellowship, although I now spend much more time teaching and completing administrative tasks as well. I currently mentor four PhD students and teach on several undergraduate modules particularly on Marine Pollution and Environmental Chemistry.

How did your degree prepare you for your career?  

My degree involved a wide range of activities from laboratory experiments and fieldwork to writing and presenting. All of this put me in good stead for an academic career, although many people on my course successfully entered other sectors too.

Working in groups taught me the value of teamwork which is critical for successful collaborations, while the introduction to programming software such as Matlab has helped me with data collection and interpretation. The format of the final year profile and the freedom to research a topic that interested me reinforced my decision to pursue a PhD.

Outside of the course teaching, what other opportunities did you get involved in during your time at University?

During my final year, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to visit the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research to learn about algal culturing techniques. Also, immediately after my final exams, I was hired by another academic to assist with a three-week research cruise to the Celtic Sea to collect and analyse samples of oxygen and nutrient concentrations, which was a fantastic experience. 

During my degree, I enjoyed many extracurricular activities including learning Spanish, taking part in various sports and captaining the School of Environmental Sciences netball team. I also volunteered for the Cinnamon Trust and became interested in gardening, taking on several plots at a community garden. I love my subject area with a passion, but I also think it is important to have an identity and hobbies outside of work.    

What advice would you give to students who aspire to a career in Natural Sciences?  

Be the role model you wish you had.  Always see yourself as a valuable and malleable commodity, able to continuously grow learn and impact, but also worth respecting and taking care of. Also, learn how to take criticism positively, grow from it and not let it affect your mental state or self-worth.

For example, when applying for fellowships, I had my heart set on a LabexMER International Fellowship in France, as I wanted to work with a world-renowned trace metal team that I had made contact with there. By the end of my PhD, I has unsuccessfully applied twice to obtain the fellowship. In 2016, I completed my PhD in Marine Biogeochemistry, and although my fellowship applications were unsuccessful, I was offered a one-year postdoc to work with the French team on a project I had developed. On my third attempt, I was finally successful in securing the fellowship. It allowed me to pursue my own research and set me in good stead for a future in Oceanography. Had I given up after the first or second attempt to reach my goals, I would not be where I am today. However, I was pragmatic and did not put all my eggs in one basket, which meant that plenty of opportunities were open to me until I achieved them.

What does diversity in Natural Sciences mean to you?  

Diversity to me means inclusivity, recognising that there is not a level playing field and taking action to change that for future generations. Everyone should feel safe, secure, valued and supported in their place of work or study in order to reach their potential. All of us can take steps to ensure that our workplace is an inclusive and vibrant environment where every single individual is given an equal opportunity to flourish and succeed. 

Working within diverse groups of people from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences provides an opportunity to see things from different perspectives and perhaps help answer questions that you didn’t even know existed. To me, that can only be a good thing!    

Broaden your horizons through extracurricular opportunities.