I never really planned to become a scientist. At school I liked science subjects but I also loved art too, and it was a big decision for me to choose one over the other when I started my A-levels.

I travelled a bit with my parents when I was little, and it made me curious about the world – I guess that is the beginning of being a scientist, when you see something and you want to know why, or how, or when… Some really good teachers helped me develop that curiosity into a career!

It was always really just being interested in science. I actually never really planned to do it for a job until fairly recently. I have done a few different jobs and it took me a while to realise that I wanted to be a scientist! So I learned that you can always change your mind about what you want to do!

Even if I wasn’t doing it for a job I would probably do some kind of science as a hobby. I did an Open University course part time while I was working, which is what really got me into planetary science.

When I was growing up, I was always really interested in technology and how things worked. Especially computers and TV. I also really liked being outdoors and my favourite subject at school was geography. Plus, there used to be a really cool (well, I thought it was!) TV programme called “Tomorrow’s World”, which you can probably find on Youtube.

Put all that together, and that I not great at languages, I studied Maths, Physics, Chemisty and Geography at A-level. I still couldn’t decide what to do at university. I was lucky that the course I got into let me study 4 subjects in the first year, and I finally decided to concentrate on Physics.

Then I saw a really interesting PhD project that combined studying the outside and technology; how stars twinkle (basically!) and how we can stop them doing that because it spoils the astronomy images taken by telescopes.

Basically, I never decided to become a scientist, it just seemed to be the most interesting thing to do and I was lucky that I was given the chance to study and study (and study more!) and eventually get a job which is pretty amazing. (And, I don’t have to wear a suit or tie very often either—bonus!)

I read a lot of science fiction and watched a lot of Star Trek! Also I had some great teachers.

I just liked solving problems, and was good at maths. And I thought astronomy was fascinating. As soon as I discovered people would pay you to learn about astronomy I was in!