Profile

I’m a student at the University of York but right now I’m doing a placement year at a big research council in Didcot, Oxfordshire. I live in Oxford with my partner, Becca, and our housemate.

I love dogs, science and spending time with my friends! I relax by knitting cosy jumpers or by looking after our garden. In my free time I help at a Cub Scout group and I used to sing in a choir. My pronouns are she/her.

Here’s a photo of me and Becca on holiday in Malta last year:

We can’t wait to “grow up” and buy a house together so we can get a pet dog!

Before lockdown I also really enjoyed seeing my friends and doing things like going for walks, going to the pub and even sometimes going to dances called ceilidhs, which are really fun. Now I can’t do those things which is really sad – how are you coping with not seeing your friends? Let me know so I can try some new ideas out!

I work in the Scientific Computing department at STFC, a research council. Lots of scientists visit STFC and use our big machines to study what things are made of. This produces data (pictures and numbers) which can be difficult to understand. In my department, we help the scientists understand their data using computers.

My job is to tell people about the different ways we help scientists. For example, we store their data on computers and help them find it when they need it. We also have big computers that can help them make sense of it. We keep the computers in a special room called the “machine room”.

One of our big computers is called JASMIN, an environmental science computer. JASMIN stores lots of big datasets about things like the climate, weather and other things related to the Earth. Scientists use JASMIN to get this data and then do complicated maths to help them understand what it means.

The photo underneath is of me in the machine room, looking at JASMIN:

We also write software to helps scientists understand their data. This involves lots of coding and testing to make sure it works. For example, we write software that helps scientists who study biological molecules like proteins understand their experiments. People are using this software right now to understand more about the coronavirus and how we could stop it using medicines.

In my job I get to do lots of fun stuff to tell people about what we do. I write articles for our website and for other staff to read. I also design leaflets and posters about our work, which are handed out at big events. One of my favourite things to do is to use social media (Twitter) to get more people excited about our work. I get to do some really fun stuff on Twitter, like use emojis 😝 and #hashtags. I also get to use lots of photos, including old photos from our archive. One time I even got current staff to recreate old photos, like the ones below!

A photo of “trainee programmers” taken in 1991

Our remake of the photo in 2020!

Here’s what my day looked like before the Covid-19 pandemic meant I had to start working from home!

08:45  I arrive at work and go to my desk. Here’s me sat at my desk:

09:00  I help our Public Engagement team run an event for primary school children visiting our site. It’s hard work but really fun, and I love telling the pupils about our science.

12:15  Lunchtime! I meet my friends in the canteen and we chat and laugh together.

13:00  I take a nap in a quiet room. I have a condition called Narcolepsy, which makes me very tired, and it’s important that I take a nap every day to help me stay awake all afternoon.

13:30  I meet with someone in my department to chat about their work. They tell me about a big computer called JASMIN, which stores data for scientists who study the environment. Here’s JASMIN:

14:00  I start writing an article about JASMIN for our website.

16:00  I meet my friend for coffee. We talk about the work we’re doing and how we could work together on a new project.

17:00  Hometime! I meet my friends at the car and we listen to music all the way home.

Luckily I can do lots of my work from home, so right now my day doesn’t look too different. The main difference is that I work in the living room instead of at a desk! However, I really miss chatting with my friends every day and doing fun public engagement activities.