Profile

I live in Bath but I grew up in Nottingham, the home of Robin Hood! I love dogs, my Mum and Dad both have two dogs at home, which I miss a lot when I’m in Bath. I love to dance and have done ballet since I was 11. I’m also pretty good at quizzes, especially if they have questions about FRIENDS or Harry Potter! My pronouns are she/her.

I am doing a PhD at the ‘Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies’ at the University of Bath. I make plastics from sugars and carbon dioxide as possible replacements for the current plastics we use, which tend to be made from fossil fuels. The main aim of my research, is to find ways to use these new plastics in healthcare devices. This could help detected illnesses or diseases quickly without relying on fossil fuels. We can also make conductive materials, which could be used in batteries to make them safer and more sustainable. These plastics are also biodegradable, so wouldn’t contribute to plastic waste!

I spend most of my day in the lab. A normal day in the lab would include doing reactions, doing analysis to work out what I’ve made, and sharing ideas with my lab friends. There are lots of analysis techniques I use. Thermal analysis tells us how our materials behave when they are heated up. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infra-red (IR) spectroscopy helps us find out what atoms are inside our material. I also run simulations to find out more about the things I would normally be making in the lab. This involves making a computer model of the plastics I make, and looking at how they move, interact with each other, and what shapes they take.

During the day, I might also have meeting with my supervisors or with other member of my lab group. In these meetings we might discuss problems we have with our research, or just chat about life!

Sometimes people visit the university to give talks about their research in events called seminars or conferences. These are always a nice break to the day, and you get to meet new people and learn about cool new science. I’ve just got back from one of these conferences in Athens, Greece. I can a talk about my research there – it was very nerve wracking!