How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, indecisive, reliable.
Brief background/short CV
I was born and raised in (fairly rural) Leicestershire. I did my undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Leicester and my Ph.D. in chemical biology at the University of Cambridge. I joined John Sutherland’s laboratory at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge two years ago as a Postdoc. In this time I have worked on projects ranging from the synthesis and polymerisation of nucleotides to the reactions of lipids.
Outside of the lab I enjoy cricket, classical music and walking. I have twice completed the Shine marathon to raise money for Cancer Research.
What do you do?
I am looking at ways in which simple organic compounds might have combined with metal salts on the primordial Earth to form small but very reactive molecules. We think that these reactive molecules helped compounds like amino acids and nucleotides to assemble into the polymers of life.
Brief description of a typical day
I like to go straight into the lab and check on any experiments that have been running overnight. While I am waiting to find out what is going on I generally use this time to get some tea. When I have figured out what is happening in these experiments I set up some new ones to ask (and hopefully answer) a slightly different question.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Discovering new chemistry, seeing something that nobody has ever seen before.
If you weren’t doing this job, what would you be doing instead?
I would probably be a musician or a painter.
Your top tip for someone thinking about a career in science?
Stick with it. Science is hard work and many experiments will end in failure, but I think this goes to show how little we know and how much there is to find out!
What or who inspired you to follow your career?
When I was an undergraduate student I had two great mentors, Andrew Jamieson and Paul Jenkins. Both inspired me with their love of organic chemistry and encouraged me to consider a career in research.
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to be a musician. I played the violin a lot in my youth!