Profile

I am from Waterford, I work in Cork, and this year I moved to Tipperary. I finished my PhD and I started a new job at the end of 2019. I love animals, being outdoors and jogging. I am not very fast. I often enter races without telling anyone, as I am only competing against myself and my previous times. Because of this I have become known to some of my colleagues as the secret runner.

I work as part of a large group. We all work on different projects and types of samples, but we are all interested in microbes.

I study the microbes in foods and in our gut. My favourite foods to study are dairy, milks and powder mainly. Companies process dairy in different ways to make different products. With each different processing method, different microbes can survive. I also study the microbes that can survive in the processing facility itself. I study these by looking at the microbes in swabs taken from processing facilities.

I use two main methods to analyse the microbes in our gut, in dairy samples and in swab samples.

The first method I use is growing the microbes.

I grow the microbes on a jelly-like food called nutrient agar. I do this by spreading some of the dairy samples on top of the agar and keeping it nice and warm. The microbes take the nutrients from the agar, grow and multiply. The microbes can take between 24-48 hours to grow. Once grown I can see the microbes without needing to use a microscope. I can then pick the microbes from the agar surface and analyse them further to determine what they are. I can also store them to study them at a different time. Different microbes like different nutrients and some prefer different temperatures to grow, this can make it difficult to analyse all the microbes in a sample.

The second method I use is to examine the DNA from the microbes.

I first collect the DNA from the samples. I do this by spinning the dairy sample really fast in a special machine, like a big fidget spinner, so that all the microbes in the sample drop to the bottom. I take away the liquid from the top so I am just left with the microbes at the bottom. I then try to break open the microbes in order to release their DNA. I use two methods to do this. I first shake the microbes with tiny beads to try break them open, and then I add chemicals that burst the microbe cells open, these release all the DNA. When I have the DNA I can look at it on a gel. I can then read it using a special machine called a sequencer. This can take a few days.

Reading the DNA, it is not like reading words, but letters. It is also not only what the letters are that is really important, but their order. When the DNA has been sequenced I can read the letters and compare the order of the letters in my samples to the order of the letters in microbes. I can then figure out what microbes are present in my samples.

I make graphs and tables showing the microbes in my samples, and comparing them to other samples. I make presentations and write reports for the companies that have given me samples. I also prepare presentations for our lab group. We have lab presentations every Friday, where we take it in turns to present our work. On average I have to present once every 3 months. I also give presentations to the whole department maybe once or twice a year, and I go to 1-2 conferences a year where I give a talk or present a poster.

Before the COVID-19 lockdown my days looked like this:

7.45am: I start my day with breakfast and a coffee before my commute.

8.45am: I arrive to the office. I check my list of things to do for the day. I check my emails. I plan out my day.

9.30am Monday Morning: I have a weekly group meeting with my supervisor. Here I talk about the work I have done the past week, what I plan to do this week, and raise any issue or concerns. It is a great start to the week and other colleagues may be able to help/offer advice too.

10am: I start preparing samples for analysis.

10.30am: Tea break with colleagues.

10.45am: I start the first method to analyse my samples. I grow the microbes.

12.30pm: Lunch time.

1pm: I start the 2nd method, collecting DNA from the microbes within the samples.

3pm: I analyse DNA that has already been sequenced. I make graphs and tables

3.30pm: Tea break.

3.45pm: I continue to make graphs and tables. I write reports, read papers or prepare presentations.

4.30pm: I write my lab notebook with all the work I have done during the day. Before I finish work for the day, I write a list of things to do tomorrow.

5.15pm: Home time.

Now I am working from home my commute has shortened, to my living room. I have a more relaxed breakfast before I look at my list of things to do for the day. I still have my Monday morning meetings with my supervisor but it is in the form of a large online group meeting now. It is nice to have the same routine in these different times. I can’t do lab work at the moment, as it is safer to not be in the lab, and like everyone else we have to keep our distance and stay at home to save lives. I can still analyse my results on my laptop at home, make graphs, write reports, read papers and prepare presentations. I am also enrolling in online courses to upskill in areas I have less experience in. I am trying to keep the same routine and working hours as before the lockdown.