Profile

I’m an environmental chemist, with a PhD from the University of Birmingham, and a Masters from the University of Oxford. I lecture at Reading University, tutor students in maths and science, and run messy, hands-on science workshops, like making chocolate. You’re likely to find me in her kitchen whipping up an edible experiment, or talking to my cat about science. Well, frankly, anyone who’ll listen!

My PhD was in chromate remediation – extracting toxic, bright orange chromium ions from wastewater solutions using molecular sieves containing other metals, usually iron. I made the sieves in an “oven” (you can make these in an oven at home too – I’ve tried it, and it worked!). The challenge was making sure the air-sensitive iron didn’t get to rust before it had swapped places with the chromate. Most of my work was analytical: using x-rays, gamma rays, and electron beams to probe and poke my samples and find out what they looked like on an atomic scale.

My further research was in nuclear waste storage. I worked on bentonite – a clay mostly used for cat litter, but which could also be used to trap nuclear waste storage for 100,000 years. During this time, chemical and biochemical reactions take place in the clay, and I worked with other researchers to “accelerate” samples and make guesses about what would happen and how safe it would be.

Nowadays, I do a lot of science writing and working with other scientists to train them to explain their science in a way that makes sense to everybody. This means I get to delve into other people’s work and learn new things all the time, which is exciting. I’m the vice chair of the Environmental Chemistry group at the Royal Society of Chemistry, and run events about science there and elsewhere, including messy hands-on workshops like making chocolate. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

My day is very flexible and I can work at home or alter my hours as I like. I usually get into work at 7.45am, and book out all the analytical equipment nobody is using that early. I’ll probably start an experiment or take one off – taking about half an hour, then sit at my desk drinking tea and nibbling food doing admin. Later on, I will collect the data I have gathered and have a look at it, probably attend a meeting, then do some writing and some science communication. On a longer lab day, I will make fused beads or visit another laboratory.