I’ve done all sorts of different things. I’ve done environmental science in the US (looking at stream water quality), palaeontology with the WA museum (looking at the placoderm fish in the Kimberley), population genetics of barramundi (getting paid to go camping and fishing!), shark sampling in Shark Bay, developing a blood test for Helicobacter pylori (the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers), working with heroin addicted populations to get them better treatments, and now looking at kids’ health and vitamin D! Science is varied, and that’s the best part of it!

Most of my day at the moment is spent thinking about the questions that I want to answer, writing the computer code that I need to answer it, running the programs, then looking at the data for patterns and clues. I also write the results up so that everyone else knows when I’ve found something important.

I preferred the science that I did when I was out in the field more often, but I have small children now, so for the moment, I have to stay closer to home!

I have loved working with Scientists in Schools, where I visit primary schools and help the teachers with their science program. I have found that teachers mostly just lack confidence when teaching science…after I do a few cool demonstrations, or give them some ideas for making a subject more interactive,  they have the confidence to do it themselves! I would love to visit a few remote primary schools and do the same thing for kids that wouldn’t normally get visitors and interactive science in their classroom!