• Question: what type of scientist are you?

    Asked by libbyhobson to Adam, Catherine, Karen, Leila, Nazim on 11 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by ameera, chrisvw, georges, 1127colm, twilightgibbo, miggayboy1997.
    • Photo: Adam Stevens

      Adam Stevens answered on 10 Mar 2012:

      I like to think that I do a lot of different kinds of science. If I had to put a label on it I would say I’m a planetary scientist, but I do a bit of astrobiology, geochemistry, physics and other things.

      Sometimes labels are useful, but I think they’re very often a waste of time and can give you the wrong impression. Plus they generally change over time. Ancient greek physics was totally different to what we would call it now!

    • Photo: Karen Masters

      Karen Masters answered on 10 Mar 2012:

      I prefer to call myself an Astronomer. I’ve also been called a Cosmologist because I work at a place called “The Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation” which is nicknamed the “Cosmology Dept.” at Portsmouth, but really I’m an astronomer as I don’t often try to understand the whole universe – just how galaxies fit into it.

    • Photo: Leila Battison

      Leila Battison answered on 10 Mar 2012:

      Like Adam, I do a lot of different kinds of science, but when I’m trying to impress I pull out the ridiculously long title of Micropalaeontologist and Astrobiologist. This basically means I look for life in ancient rocks on earth, and elsewhere in the universe. But because we haven’t found life in space yet, that part involves studying planets and stars to look at how likely it is that life could be there.

      I work in a Geology department, and all of my samples are from rocks on Earth about 1-2 billion years old. I take every opportunity to talk to and work with people from other departments too, and share ideas.

    • Photo: Catherine Rix

      Catherine Rix answered on 11 Mar 2012:

      I would describe myself as multidiscilinary – basically I do a bit of lots of things. I have a degree in chemistry, my first job was very biology based and now I do biology, chemistry, a bit of engineering and anything else that I need to do for my project. I’ve learnt a lot about different types of science as I’ve worked and I also work with lots of other scientists with knowledge of different areas so I can ask them for help when I don’t know how to do something, or how to solve a problem. I think that a lot of science is becoming more multidisciplinary and just because you chose to study one type of science at university doesn’t mean you have to stay working in that area of science. It’s all about learning new things for me!

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