• Question: What compelled you to join your chosen field?

    Asked by Bradleyyy to Aaron, Abbey, Keith, Natalie, Pete on 13 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Natalie Garrett

      Natalie Garrett answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      I started out at school loving all subjects. I chose the sciences for A-Levels, because I figured I could do arty things in my spare time, but it’s harder to do science as a hobby. Then, I took a gap year to figure out what to do at University – I chose Physics because I had the most fun studying it, even though I didn’t know what career I wanted.

      At uni, I did some research work in my summer holidays and loved it so much that I stayed on to do a PhD in Physics after I graduated. After that, I was hooked on research, so I stayed on as a research scientist. As for the field I chose, I wanted something that would help people, and that was interesting – biophotonics (the science of imaging, manipulating and characterising biological samples using light) offered all of that and more!

    • Photo: Aaron Boardley

      Aaron Boardley answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      There wasn’t a single moment when I decided on my field, just bit by bit I’ve ended up here.

      For me it’s because I loved, and was good at, science (particularly maths and physics) but also enjoyed writing and communicating. So, each time I got to make a decision in my career (for GCSEs, A Levels, university, work, even my hobbies) I have naturally done stuff that includes these things.

      So what compelled me? I guess it’s because I enjoy it – simple as that!

    • Photo: Peter Burgess

      Peter Burgess answered on 14 Nov 2015:

      I knew I wanted a career that makes the world a better place. A reason to get up in the morning that’s more than just a pay cheque.
      I’m good at physics and ended up studying it for university and looking around for a physics related career with strong social benefit, I couldn’t see past renewable energy and climate change mitigation. It’s a huge issue. Most of the time I don’t think about the big picture any more and just focus on my own little tiny corner of the problem but when i do take a step back and think about the scale of what could happen if we don’t stop burning so much fossil fuel, and the scale of what we need to do to get to reach that goal I get really angry, determined and probably a bit scared.

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