Can you tell us about your role and career pathway?
I am a Senior Lecturer (Teaching and Scholarship) in Chemistry at the University of Liverpool.
I studied MChem Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology, and then went on to complete a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry.
Growing up I never really thought about science or anything particularly academic as a career. I rotated between thoughts of being a police officer or a PE teacher! However, thanks to having a wonderful high school Science teacher, who was a chemistry specialist, I fell in love with chemistry during GCSEs and it was my first choice of A-level, with Biology and Maths as natural additions. Ancient History was also picked because of my love of history and wanting to do something a little bit different. I got to spend two years learning about Greeks and Roman and loved every second of it.
Do you have an area of expertise / research?
During my PhD, my research was based around synthesing new drug compounds to treat fungal infection caused by Cryptococcus neoformans. My research area is now more focused on Scholarship, and I'm particularly interested in how we can develop better lab environments for students, as many students find labs to be an initially daunting part of the degree programme. Once students settle and adapt to the new environment, they tend to really enjoy it, I enjoy supporting students in building their confidence in labs.
I am also interested in assessment (particularly assessment for learning (AfL) and how we can embed this into lectures. This includes the use of digital tools, but also creating an environment that students feel like they can be actively involved in.
In addition to this, I facilitate outreach development projects in the department. This means I get to support students in developing new chemistry outreach activities and materials. This is great as it means I can support undergraduate students who wish to do something different to a career in the chemistry industry.
What inspired you to choose Chemistry as a degree subject?
When I started my degree, I had no thoughts as to a career, only that I enjoyed what I was studying. I then started to find out more about a PhD and teaching at university and thought that sounded like a career I would enjoy.
What do you enjoy about your role now?
I love the teaching aspect of my job because I get to share my passion for science and education with students and staff alike. I particularly love teaching in the labs. It's great to be hands-on and I find it is a great way for me to get to know more about the students, and they get to know a little more about me.
We get to come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas of how we can enhance the student experience and they are one of the reasons my job is so enjoyable.
No day, week, month or year is the same. I can be teaching the same content as the year before but how I approach it and how the students interact with it is different. It means I constantly develop myself and how I teach and I love that challenge. My job is certainly not boring!
What is your most exciting career project?
I am the Chemistry Outreach lead which means I get the chance to inspire and shape the minds of the next generation of scientists. What I love about this role is I get to interact with kids of all ages (3 - 99!) and talk about why science in general is so great. We do everything from synthesis of painkillers to making disgusting alginate eyeballs, and I love every second of it, including when I go home covered in slime and food colouring!
I love the comments we get after outreach sessions, particularly from younger kids who think science is cool and want to be scientists when they grow up. I also love that this role means I get to support our undergraduates, postgraduates and post docs in diversifying their interests and skills through their excellent delivery of the outreach programme.
Do you have any advice to share?
If you are interested in teaching at university level and don't want to pursue the normal academic research route, take as many opportunities as possible to be involved in teaching. I think I always had teaching as a career in the back of mind, but I started my journey by doing PAL (peer-assisted learning) and was supported by another excellent LivWiSE role model Prof. Gita Sedghi to do this. This then inspired me to seek out more opportunities to get involved. It also gave me a range of contacts which helped me with seeking invaluable information and advice as I progressed throughout my career.
Another tip is to continuously develop yourself. This can be through further study or training, or working on things that you feel like you could improve. This helps improve your confidence, but also the range of things you can do. Take every opportunity you can.
I feel incredibly privileged to be in a job that I love, where I get to experience so many fantastic things. Any job can have days where it is not easy, and sometimes you must work extra hard, but I always remind myself that through my job I get to be a part of helping students to change, grow and move into careers of their own.
My best piece of advice is to always look on the bright side of life!