• Question: What is the worst thing that happened to you?

    Asked by anon-243423 to Pan-ngum, Natalia, Mick, Manjit, Filipe, Bruce on 12 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Michael Schubert

      Michael Schubert answered on 12 Mar 2020:

      I think the biggest challenge I have ever faced is that, a few years ago, I found out I had an illness that means I can’t move around as much as I used to. It has made it a bit harder to go out into the field and do the same kind of hands-on work I used to do on plants, rocks, and fossils. But I have found ways to keep moving (I do special exercises and sometimes use special tools to help me move or operate instruments) and I still do all the science I love!

    • Photo: Natalia Brodaczewska

      Natalia Brodaczewska answered on 12 Mar 2020: last edited 12 Mar 2020 8:19 pm

      As a scientist, the worst thing that happened to me was that my PhD research didn’t work the way I hoped it would. I spent over 4 years on it and sometimes I had to stay at work really late or come in on weekends. It can be devastating when after all this time and effort you don’t get good results. But that’s the thing about science that it’s unpredictable. We can’t know which experiments are going to work before we start them or how to change them to make them work better. A lot of that is trial and error and many researchers get frustrated over this. On the other hand, it brings an even greater satisfaction when things finally work! I just wish it happened more often!

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