Profile

About Me

My name is Jean, I'm 32 and from Limerick. I did my BSc and PhD in the University of Limerick. Nowadays, you'll find me in University College Cork, where I work as a lecturer and researcher in Environmental Science.

My Typical Day

I get up early and have one of many cups of coffee! I drive to work in UCC and make sure I have all my material for teaching. I often cycle across to our main campus, where I teach undergraduate students. I also have research students who I help learn scientific skills, both in the lab and through computer programmes. I write A LOT! Writing is a big part of science- we need to share our thoughts and ideas with everyone else, and to do this, we have to write (type!) them down. I'm busy a lot of the time, but can always find an hour or so to grab (another) coffee with my work friends where we talk about, you guessed it, science!

My Interview

• How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

  Enthusiastic, Disorganised, Good-humoured

  What did you want to be after you left school?

  An Astronaut

  Were you ever in trouble at school?

  I was, I'm afraid- I was a bit of a messer. Still am, by all accounts.

  Who is your favourite singer or band?

  Hard to pick a favourite, but I love Bon Iver and a lot of 90s bands like Oasis, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins etc.

  What's your favourite food?

  Definitely cheese.

  What is the most fun thing you've done?

  I love NASA and when I was little, I got to go to Kennedy Space Centre in Florida- I still remember the feeling of excitement!

  If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

  1.See the Earth from Space, 2. Have more time for myself, 3. Wouldn't say no to a million quid (that I'd put towards science, of course!)

  Tell us a joke.

  I had a dream where I weighed less than a thousandth of a gram. I was like 0mg