Profile

Candidate CV questions (extra)

• Education:

  I went to school at New Plymouth Boys’ High School in New Zealand. I did not really know what I wanted to do, but really enjoyed maths, chemistry and biology, so after high school I went to Massey University in New Zealand to get a Medical Laboratory Science degree (I think this is the equivalent of a biomedical degree in the United Kingdom). This gave me a lot of experience and skills in different parts of biomedicine, e.g., microbiology, clinical biochemistry and haematology.

  I returned to Massey University a year later  to get my honours in microbiology (this is the equivalent of a master’s degree in the United Kingdom), where I identified new species of bacteria from wild birds. I then completed my PhD in microbiology where I compared the DNA from multiple microorganisms to track how diseases are spread amongst different animals and evolve over time, i.e., genomic epidemiology.

• Qualifications:

  When I started high school the New Zealand government brought in a new high school marking system called NCEA. However, it was difficult to rank. In all honesty I did fine at high school, but not amazingly:

  • NCEA level 1 – achieved
  • NCEA level 2 – achieved
  • NCEA level 3 – achieved

  All my tertiary education was performed at Massey University where I completed:

  • A Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science with distinction (equivalent of biomedical science degree)
  • Bachelor of Science with a first class honours in Microbiology (equivalent of masters degree)
  • PhD in Microbiology and Genetics

• Work History:

  Produce assistant: Whilst I was at high school I worked most weekends at a supermarket helping stock the fruit and vegetable sections.

  Café worker: The summer before I started university I worked at a café taking orders, making coffee and delivering food.

  Medical Laboratory Assistant: Every summer break whilst I was at university I worked at a medical laboratory helping analyse clinical samples.

  Medical Laboratory Scientist: After finishing my undergraduate degree I worked for a year in a hospital laboratory performing laboratory tests on clinical samples. This helped me develop my laboratory skills, such as culturing for microorganisms, identifying chemicals in clinical samples, and looking at samples under a microscope. However, after a year I wanted to do something else and went into research.

   

• Current Job:

  I currently work as a post-doctoral scientist investigating microorganisms on food and whether we can use them to make food safer and last longer. This job involves a large amount of laboratory work as I have to grow up microorganisms, identify what type of microorganism they are and extract DNA from them. It also involves a large amount of computer analysis as I deal with DNA information from thousands of microorganisms.

  As part of this job I also get to help supervise PhD students and help them with their jobs, write lots of manuscript, help develop new research projects, and travel to conferences around the world presenting and talking to others about my research.

• Employer:

  I am employed by Professor Alison Mather at the Quadram Institute. The Quadram Institute performs research on food, making food safer, making food more nutritious and how we digest food.