• Question: i am interected in science as a job but im not sure about the things avilable? were you sure from a young age that you wanted to be a scientist?

    Asked by hannahstana to Ben, James, Jen, Michael, Susanna on 11 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by tilly1999, missjelexia.
    • Photo: Ben Brilot

      Ben Brilot answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      Hi. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be a scientist, but I did know that I wanted to work with animals, probably studying animal behaviour, from a very young age (6 or so). There are other ways of having a job of working with animals, but science is one of the best if you really want to be able to spend time understanding what makes them tick.

      I don’t think you need to worry about whether you feel a burning desire to be a scientist yet. The fact that you’re thinking about it now is good. There are lots of ways of ‘being a scientist’ that don’t involve working, as I do, in a university. Lots of people work for companies where research is needed (for example the companies that develop drugs for curing illness) and lots of people work in jobs where they put their science to very good use. I used to work for a company that carried out plant and animal surveys to figure out whether builders should be able to build their houses in a particular place. I had to know a lot about ecology, but it was really practical in that you could help reduce the impacts on the environment of things like building houses. So there are lots of ways that you can have a job that involves science. Being a scientist is definitely a very rewarding one, so if you’re thinking about it, then go for it. Good luck!

    • Photo: Jen Todd Jones

      Jen Todd Jones answered on 15 Mar 2013:

      Hi Hannah!

      Like I said in my profile I originally started out as more of an arts student studying theatre and literature – I decided to do a Psychology degree because I was interested in people and the brain. I think when I was still in school I had some ideas about being a teacher, or doing work involving animals (I think a lot of people do), or acting but really I was most interested in understanding people.

      After school during my degrees at university I learned a lot of the basics of biology, chemistry and physics so I could understand what we were being taught! Looking at pictures of the brain and hearing people talk about the body as a whole and how this and the brain made us human really appealed to me. I found something that interested me and only then did I really decide that I could be a scientist, only then did I even believe I could be one! I think it’s really important to remember that you don’t have to start as a scientist, once you find something that you find really interesting anything is possible.

      Jen

Comments