Profile

My CV

• Education:

  I attended Hreod PArkway secondary school where I completed my GCSEs in Maths, English literature and language, triple Science, RE, IT, German, Psychology, Drama

  I then attended New College where I carried out A Levels in Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, Sociology and Environmental Science. I also did an AS level in Maths but didn’t enjoy it as much as school so didn’t do the two year A level.

  I then went to the University of Bristol where I did a degree in biology for three years. I obtained a first-class honours.

  After finding my love of the ocean and everything water, I went to Queen Mary University of London to complete my Masters of Science in Freshwater and Marine Ecology. As part of my masters I also spent some time at the University of Aberdeen doing some research.

  Following my masters I took two years out to work before returning to education. I am currently undertaking my PhD ( a 4 year course, where you study a new piece of science) at the University of Exeter and aim to be a Dr of coral by March 2023.

• Qualifications:

  Age 16 – GCSEs: English literature (A); English Language (A); Chemistry (B); Biology (B); Physics (B); Maths (A); Psychology (A*); Drama (B); IT (A); RE (C); German (B)

  Age 19 – A levels: Biology (A); Chemistry (B) Psychology (A); Sociology (A); Environmental Science (B). AS-level: Maths (C)

  Age 23 – BSc degree in Biology – First-class honours

  Age 25 – MSc in Freshwater and Marine Ecology – Distinction and recipient of the Principals prize for outstanding academic achievement

  Age 29 and current – PhD in Marine connectivity of pink sea fan

   

• Work History:

  I’ve had many jobs over my early career as I didn’t know what I wanted to do in my career.

  When I was studying at college I worked part-time at Debenhams fashion store, this enabled me to earn some money and save for university!

  During university I did lots of volunteering, this included being a volunteer dog walker as I was really missing my dogs at home and organising my own beach cleans.

  After my masters I worked in a cinema in order to earn some money. Although this job was not related to my studies, I’m glad that I did it as I met some lovely people and got to watch a lot of films for free! I then worked as a carer in the community as I could work more hours. This job was so rewarding as I got to meet lots of different types of people and make people lives a little better, even by just giving them a smile or making a cup of tea. I then got a job as an ecologist at a consultancy company. An ecologist looks at the interactions on animals with their environment, my job focused on looking at suitable areas of land that could be dug for building and wouldn’t harm the wildlife that lived there.

  I then got a job working for a marine charity called Orca, during this role I worked as a Wildlife Officer where I worked offshore on a ferry boat, I interacted with the passengers and delivered presentations on the whales and dolphins they would see on their journey. I also carried out surveys during the trip which involved writing down all the species of dolphin and whale we saw. This is important for conservation as it enables us to monitor the numbers of species from year to year to see if they are increasing or declining.

• Current Job:

  I am currently a PhD researcher at the University of Exeter studying a species of cold water coral pink sea fan, as I have mentioned above. What I love about my PhD is telling the wider public about the fact that we have coral in the UK as many people do not know this. So when we think of coral we don’t have to go to the tropics to see them!

  For my PhD research I am looking at the genes and genetic diversity of pink sea fan populations across Europe. So I have collected samples from Spain, France, Portugal, Ireland and the UK. Through understanding their DNA, I can see which populations are more similar to each other, this will tell me how far the coral larvae (it’s young life-stage that floats in the water) can travel and which populations are connected by migration.

  This is important as animals which are more genetically diverse are thought to be able to adapt to climate change better. Knowing how far animals migrates also enables us to better protect them by placing areas of the ocean in marine protected areas. Marine protected areas are areas where fisherman can’t go and harmful activities cannot be carried out, so these are very important for looking after and conserving marine animals.

   

  I am also working at parliament with the government to use my scientific knowledge and skills to tell the government how they should best protect the environment. The Government are not experts in science so they need people like me, and maybe one day you, to bring their knowledge on all areas of science and give them advice on how they can protect the natural world.