• Question: whats your favourite thing about being a scientist?

    Asked by anon-207876 to William, Silvia, Scott, Oliver, Natalie, Michelle, Lowri on 5 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-207470, anon-207889.
    • Photo: Silvia Imberti

      Silvia Imberti answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I always liked how physics can explain many different phenomena with few key concepts, so for example WAVES concepts can be used to explain some of what we commonly recognise as waves (in water!) as well as sound, music, colours all the way up to signal transmission.
      In a similar way, I liked that with the same bricks, say carbon, you can build materials with properties as diverse as the graphite in your pencils and the diamonds in my treasure chest (I wish).

      See here btw for how to turn one into the other:
      the right way: https://phys.org/news/2017-02-scientists-puzzle-graphite-diamond.html
      the wrong way aka Diamonds Aren’t Forever: https://physics.aps.org/story/v22/st5

    • Photo: Natalie Lamb

      Natalie Lamb answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I really like how my days are different. One day I on am on a water treatment works in a hi-vis jacket, a hard hat and steel capped boots taking samples of water. The next day I am dressed really fancy, ready to give a presentation about my research to other scientists. It means I don’t get bored but it can be difficult remembering what I am supposed to be doing that day!

    • Photo: Lowri Evans

      Lowri Evans answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I like the flexibility my work allows. So I don’t have to sit at a desk 9am – 5pm every day. Sometimes I am working on a boat, sometimes I am travelling the world, sometimes I am talking to people about marine animals, sometimes I’m writing, sometimes I’m trying to solve a computer programming problem… the list goes on!

    • Photo: Michelle Valkanas

      Michelle Valkanas answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      My favourite thing about being a scientist is that I am searching for answers that no one has found yet! It makes me an explorer of the unknown 🙂 Great question!

    • Photo: Scott Graham

      Scott Graham answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      i personally love working in the lab and working out what type of bacteria i have managed to isolate. Although my job does involve some computer work to type up reports or enter results and data, i am never stuck behind a desk at a computer all day which is another thing i enjoy about my job.

      another good thing is i dont have to dress formal and wear suits or shirts and ties. i can go to work wearing jeans and t-shirt and be comfy as i will be wearing a lab coat in the lab to protect my clothes. however sometimes i will dress smart if i have important meetings or conferences.

    • Photo: Oliver Andrews

      Oliver Andrews answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      Hey Maria — I love the opportunity to travel and see new places and meet interesting people. When I was studying for my PhD I got to go to the southern tip of Australia (next stop Antarctica!)

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