ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? I am a neuroscientist and my work investigates the signalling processes and neuronal populations in the CNS that regulate energy homeostasis and their contribution to obesity. In particular, my research project is focussed on the role of diets rich in fatty food in shaping feeding behaviour and how the underlying neural mechanisms can lead to the development of obesity. Given the multi-disciplinary approach that this type of research requires, I do not have a typical day, and my work schedule is pretty flexible, but I devoted a great deal of time to my mice. The one and only certainty in my daily life is my luscious apple porridge for breakfast. What excites you about what you do? The brain has always fascinated me. Despite being extensively studies, it is still very mysterious. Besides, as an ambitious person, the prospect of characterising something that has never been explored before
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? I study the electrical currents in the Earth’s magnetic environment. Specifically, I’m investigating the behaviour of the field-aligned currents which actually create the beautiful auroras that we can see in the sky! A typical day for me is at my computer. The data I analyse is all gathered from satellites, so I do a lot of coding and analysis, as well as writing up any results I get. As I’m currently approaching the end of my PhD, I am now spending most of my time writing my thesis! What excites you about what you do? I think it’s really exciting to be able to do research that is at the forefront of the field – the results can be completely new! With my research in particular, it is so interesting to study the Sun-Earth system, seeing how much of an impact the Sun can have on the system and as a result on us!
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? I’m a Science Writer & Presenter with a background in psychology & neuroscience. I founded Braintastic! Science, which produces science shows and resources to help young people understand and get the best out of their brains. I love to present on camera, and also work as a science communication trainer and consultant, providing scientists and organizations with techniques to grab their audiences’ attention, and keep it. My first solo book, ‘Overloaded’, about brain chemistry, is out now! What excites you about what you do? There is so much we don’t understand about the brain, but what I find most amazing is its flexibility. Throughout our lives, it is always changing, adapting to everything we do. I find it incredible that a mass of cells, awash with chemicals, can create the amazing complexity of human experience. Tell us a fact about yourself that not many people know! As a child, I adored Polar Bears, a
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? I am a scientist, educator, journalist, and photographer, so there isn't much of an average day! For my PhD, I studied why and how jumping spiders get their audience's attention when performing their spectacular courtship dances. Now, I am studying how tarantula's eyes might adapt to living in different environments, as well as doing a lot of freelance SciComm work. On a given day, I could be interviewing someone, poring over species descriptions, out in the field with my camera, or talking about spiders on social media! What excites you about what you do? My favorite part of spider science is sharing it with others! Spiders (and other arachnids) are such fascinating animals. Many of us don't know much about spiders. Which means that we are constantly surprised--its really easy to find a species of spider I've never even met before.
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? A dedicated biological researcher with a BSc. in Biology from the University of Sulaimani, full-time primary Science teacher, and part-time freelance academic writer focused on academic research and scientific content. A typical day for me starts with teaching my 2nd grade youngsters science! I'm excited to fuel that scientific creativity and curiosity to spark interest and passion in the minds of young students by creating a fun, hands-on, and critically learning atmosphere. Coming home to research/ study on my biological interests to finally settling in on my desk to comfortably writing scientific and academic content, pretty much sums up my day! What excites you about what you do? Science is an endless and glorious realm; revolutionizing our way of life continuously by the discoveries made every single day by brilliant scientists throughout the world.
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? My role is to teach STEAM subjects to young people plus we run CPD events, are involved in education consultancy working on projects with lots of different organisations and create a full range of STEAM educational resources. A typical day will be setting up workshops after we have planned them and created all of the resources. Some sessions are remote with others in person. Carry out the sessions then complete all paper work and tidying up afterwards! What excites you about what you do? Working with young people, the awe and wonder on their faces, that spark of excitement and intrigue and waiting to see what they become and their ideas to change the world for the betterment of us all. Tell us a fact about yourself that not many people know! I am a Guinness World Record holder. What do you like to do outside of work? I love a challenge. Aiming to complete at least one a year!
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? Having been a postdoc for nearly 25 years, I now work part time as a lab technician for one of the UK's largest commercial poultry veterinary practices. This involves performing a variety of diagnostic assays on samples to support the health and welfare of our clients’ flocks. There isn’t really a typical day since the type and quantity of samples varies from day to day. What excites you about what you do? Although the job can be relentless at times, I get satisfaction from processing samples and providing accurate results to our clients and veterinarians. Little beats the joy of clearing the fridge of a day’s samples. Tell us a fact about yourself that not many people know! I have successfully landed a light aircraft. What do you like to do outside of work? I love walking in the Norfolk countryside taking photographs of anything that catches my eye particularly dragonflies.
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? Trained as a molecular biologist and psychiatric epidemiologist, I am now CEO and co-founder of a nonprofit dedicated to cultivating excellent mental health among academics worldwide, Dragonfly Mental Health. I also work part time with integrated health systems and consult for health informatics companies interested in improving mental health outcomes. As CEO of Dragonfly, I work with incredible academic volunteers across the globe (over 180 now!) to identify and address the issues that lead to poor mental health among graduate students, faculty and university administrators. What excites you about what you do? Academics are at higher risk of developing various mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. We are a by academics - for academics run organization building and delivering evidence based programs to universities, academic associations, and student groups worldwide
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? I’m a forest scientist and currently doing my PhD where I’m trying to find out how trees and forests respond to extreme climate events like droughts and why! In a nutshell, I use tree-rings (dendroecology) to find out how resilient trees are and then try to find ways of making our forests more robust to the challenges of a future climate. I’d like to say a typical day involves running around a forest, which it does sometimes, but more often than not I’m staring at pictures of tree rings and calculating how fast they grew, then shouting loudly at my computer whilst trying to analyse my data in R. What excites you about what you do? I absolutely love what I do and I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to spend every day to finding out how the thing I’m most fascinated by (the ecology of forest ecosystems) work.
ALT What is your job or what do you study? What does a typical day look like? Working towards my MSc in Neuroscience, my research focuses on neuroimaging in bipolar disorder. Specifically, my research aims to see how brains change over time during the early stages of BD-I. I've recently started working on my thesis, so most of my days are spent writing and creating alluring visuals to illustrate my findings! What excites you about what you do? I am excited by the fact that my work can have real-world clinical implications! We are looking for early biomarkers of bipolar disorder, which can drive implementation of early interventions and guided therapeutics. Tell us a fact about yourself that not many people know! I'm a pretty open book, so most people know lots about me. That being said - I LOVE to read! I challenged myself to read only books written by female authors in 2020, and I kept a blog about the experience for the first 8 months.