Profile

I live with my high school sweetheart in the glorious West end of Glasgow. I’m a big animal lover but unfortunately our rented flat doesn’t allow pets, so I’m currently dreaming of the day when I can get a dog/ tortoise of my very own. I’m the oldest of 4 (2 sisters and brother). I’m quite crafty and like to make things (usually a mess…). I’m not allergic to anything but I do have an irrational fear of spiders. When I’m not doing science I enjoy baking, knitting, horse riding and yoga.

I study viruses that people can get after being bitten by a mosquito. Some of them can be pretty nasty and can cause death. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of vaccines or drugs out there that we can use to stop these nasty bugs making us sick. My job is change that. I look at what these viruses get up to within the cells of our bodies, how our body responds to the virus and what happens to make us sick. I hope that by learning how a virus makes us sick, I can make a drug to stop it.

I’ve written about some of the viruses I work with – like chikungunya virus and zika virus that you can read here: https://theconversation.com/delhi-has-been-hit-by-a-chikungunya-epidemic-what-is-this-disease-65592 and https://theconversation.com/whatever-happened-to-the-zika-virus-82618

I work in a lab with pipettes, microscopes, chemicals and mosquitoes! I have to wear safety clothing like a white lab coat (which keeps my clothes clean), blue gloves (not woolly ones!) and sometimes even safety glasses (to keep my eyes safe from nasty chemicals). Most days after I arrive at the lab, I will set up an experiment that usually involves moving clear liquids from different tubes into the same tube. I then place this tube into an expensive piece of equipment, wait a while, then go and check the results.

If I’m not working with clear liquids, I’m doing experiments with cells (like the ones that make up our bodies) which I keep in pink liquid in a sterile environment away from moulds, bacteria and fungi (I don’t want anything to make my cells sick apart from the virus I put on them).

If I’m really lucky I might get to do an experiment with our mosquitoes which I keep in a special cadge in a very hot and humid room!

I am involved with a project that takes science activities to the meetings held by uniformed organisations, such as Guides and Scouts. I think this is a great incentive as it takes science to people who may not necessary have the opportunity to go to a science centre or science festival. Some of the groups we have been too don’t have very good science facilities at school or have been discouraged from having an interest in STEM subjects because of their gender or backgrounds. Our goal is to show that science is for everyone, regardless of where you come from or who you are. Also, some people may find science intimidating, so by taking the activities along to the meeting place which is safe and familiar, we hope that people will feel more confident about doing the experiments and asking questions.

If I was awarded the prize money, I would use it to develop activities for younger ages. At the moment, most of our activities are for ages 8+ so I would like to come up with a new game for younger participants. My idea for this game is to use UV paint with a special UV light machine to demonstrate the importance of hygiene and washing your hands. I hope to get across that even though you can’t see anything normally, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something there that you can’t see.