Profile

Hey!

My name is William and I am a second year PhD student in Teagasc.

I have always loved science from a very young age! I remember I entered every science fair I could in primary school and I loved learning new things and seeing science happening before my eyes (colour changes and explosions especially). I entered the BT Young Scientist when I was 12 on a project looking at plastics and their impact on the environment and since then I knew I would be a scientist when I grew up.

I studied pharmaceutical chemistry in college and got to learn some really cool things and work for really awesome companies. I am now doing a PhD in food and I am really enjoying it.

In my spare time I like to play board games, read, play field hockey, and hang out with my friends!

I am looking forward to hearing from you and I hope you enjoy taking part!

^Me in goals for hockey!

I am a second year PhD student studying how ‘gone off’ cleaning chemicals used in food production can get into the food and how to stop this. Cleaning is very important in producing food as we need to make sure that no tiny germs that could make us sick get into the food we eat. The cleaning products used in this cleaning process can ‘go off’ (just like the food in your home) and this can stick to the food if these cleaners are used. The aim of my work is to make sure we stop this from happening and reduce food waste!

I usually head into work for 9, which is just down the road from my house.

My day starts with logging into my computer and checking my emails and my diary to see what I have planned for the day. I like making a to do list the evening before so I know exactly what I need to do the next day. After this i set up everything I need for the day and get organised, making sure I am missing nothing!

If I have time I check the news and see if there are any interesting stories in the scientific community or any big global events happened over night. I then go for breakfast with my friends in the canteen and we catch up over a cup of tea.

I then head back into the lab and carry out my experiments. This changes every day and depends on what part of my project I am doing. I like this as its great to always be doing new things and collecting new results! Sometimes I’m working with bacteria, other times really cool machines or in the small factory we have in my work where we can try to see how the science works when we do it huge equipment, much much bigger than the lab.

At 1 pm myself and my friends head for lunch. this is different every day but my favorite day is Friday when we go to Amber and we get pizza (and most importantly garlic dip). We chat away and joke about before heading back to work for 2 pm. We sometimes go on walks and see the cows and the sheep we have where I work if the weather is good.

In the afternoon I continue my experiments or start researching to see what else I can do and what would be really cool to do myself. I also write during this time and make a plan for the next day. I head home at 5 and like to relax for the night, watching movies, playing board games or exercising before heading to bed and getting ready for the next day!