• Question: what inspired you to do what your doing now?

    Asked by abbiefoleyx to Aaron, Abbey, Keith, Natalie, Pete on 9 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by Chloe .I, Teagan, Doughnut Boss, Amy, lebo.
    • Photo: Aaron Boardley

      Aaron Boardley answered on 9 Nov 2015:


      A mix of things – it was a gradual process rather than a sudden realisation.

      At university, I got really good feedback on the way I communicated my work – my writing, graphs, illustrations and presentations. I enjoyed being creative in this way, so I wondered whether I might want to communicate science for a living.

      I’ve always been passionate about science and spend lots of time watching/listening to/reading /visiting TV/radio/books/websites where people spend time explaining science and technology. I enjoy these, so I thought ‘if they can do it, why shouldn’t I?’

      The few jobs I’ve had in this area vary – some of them are more about explaining ‘how stuff works’. Some of them are more like teaching. Some of them were more about representing companies and helping them to promote their work – it comes down to what jobs are available, but my favourite part is still the ‘how stuff works’ explanations.

    • Photo: Peter Burgess

      Peter Burgess answered on 10 Nov 2015:


      I think like Aaron it was something of a process.
      In school I knew that while I enjoyed most things, I was probably best at sciences, and I want to do what I’m good at…
      Over the course of my time at university, I started out knowing what I didn’t want to do (teaching, investment banking…) because I either didn’t think I’d be very good at them, or they didn’t appeal to me. I did know that I wanted to do something that made a difference in the world.
      I also began to become more environmentally aware around this time, particularly seeing people I knew choosing to do things either without thought for the environmental impact of what they were doing, or without caring about those impacts and what they could do to limit them.
      So I decided that for me, the best thing I could do with a physics degree was get involved in the fight against climate change, and they best way to achieve that is to get involved in the clean energy industry where I have been ever since.
      It’s much easier to get out of bed in the morning knowing that when you get to work, you will be part of the answer, not part of the problem.

    • Photo: Natalie Garrett

      Natalie Garrett answered on 10 Nov 2015:


      I was always interested in science, and I always knew I wanted to do science of some kind of a job. In terms of my current role, I was inspired by reading the work of the people who pioneered the methods. Imagine being the first person to use a laser to take pictures of the chemicals inside a brain! That is so awesome, how can you not be inspired by that?

    • Photo: Keith Franklin

      Keith Franklin answered on 10 Nov 2015:


      Hi Chloe,

      1. My teacher at school made science enjoyable.
      2. I enjoyed finding out new things and how stuff works.

      I never planned ot be doing what I am doing now, I just kept doing what I found interesting and waited to see where it would lead me…..

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