Profile

Candidate CV questions (extra)

• Education:

  Milton St John’s Primary School – a little brick building on the side of a big hill a few minutes walk from my house. I loved it.

  Mossley Hollins Secondary School – I owe so much to my secondary school. When I was there it was a crumbling 1960s building that needed knocking down but it was full of so many hard working teachers and I still have lots and lots of friends from there.

  Oldham Sixth Form – it felt so big in comparison to my school and I had a great time there with more inspiring and supportive teachers.

  Cambridge University – I didn’t know much about Cambridge when I went there, and it could have been a bit intimidating. But actually I made some great friends really quickly and there was so many exciting things to get involved with.

  Imperial College, London – I’d already been living in London for ten years by the time I did my Masters. My classmates were all so welcoming and came from lots of different professions and backgrounds.

• Qualifications:

  11 GCSEs from Mossley Hollins High School (Maths, Statistics, Double Science, Double English, Electronics, French, Spanish, Media Studies, Drama)  – these gave me passion and curiosity and lots of brilliant friends.

  5 A-levels from Oldham Sixth Form College (Maths, Further Maths, Phsyics, Chemistry and Drama) – these gave me the tools to think about things, and the confidence in myself to talk about what interested me.

  Undergraduate Degree in  Natural Sciences from Cambridge University (Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and History of Science all in one degree) – this shaped the way I thought about problems and gave me some more fantastic friends and brilliant experiences.

  Masters Degree in Science Communication from Imperial College London – this made me realise how important it was to share science with everyone who doesn’t work in it, that science is a collective project we nurture together.

• Work History:

  My work history is definitely not straightforward, but I’m so happy to have found a job now that combines all of my interests and skills:

  • My first job was delivering newspapers up and down the hilly streets of my rainy Lancashire town. I also worked in a fish and chip shop peeling potatoes, it was great because I always got a fish, chips and gravy for free! I’ve had jobs as a waiter, a barman, a receptionist, in a variety of office jobs, and in a fried chicken van (that was my least favourite).
  • After university I worked as an actor for ten years. This included performing on stage to a thousand people a night, both in London and around the country – I did Shakespeare and modern plays and had lots of adventures. I also did some work on TV and film, including a stint as a sidekick to a detective in an Irish TV series that saw me kidnapped by gangsters and hung upside by my feet from a crane. It was a lot of fun.
  • More recently I’ve written science textbooks, made an exhibition for a musuem, done research for BBC radio and TV, and produced podcasts for a variety of different organisations – my favourite is the UK Space Agency which meant I got to sit in on interviews with astronauts!! Helen Sharman (the first person from the UK to go into space) is AMAZING!!
  • And now I’ve landed here – at Darwin Tree of Life. It’s been an unusual journey to get here, but boy am I pleased to have arrived. This project fills me with so much excitement that I can’t stop telling everyone about it.

• Current Job:

  Public Engagement Coordinator