Name: Arwyn EdwardsPresent occupation:Lecturer in Biology Aberystwyth University Education:BSc (Hons) Microbiology, Aberystwyth University PhD Aberystwyth University Work history:Lecturer in Biology, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University Teaching Fellow, Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University |
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Q: What got you interested in microbiology?Reading Richard Preston's The Hot Zone at the age of 14 or so and being amazed at the terrible power of something as small and 'simple' as a few genes in a protein coat (in this case Ebola virus) to do such harm to a 'complicated' organism billions of times larger - in this case humans. For the most part, we live our lives in blissful ignorance of the microscopic world until it crashes in on ours in such a dramatic fashion. The more I read the more curious I got about all aspects of microbiology.
Q:Can you describe a typical day in your job?In some ways I think I have at least four jobs as a lecturer! Firstly, as a teacher, being a lecturer obviously involves giving lectures, holding tutorials and practical classes, as well as assessing students work and planning new courses. In term this takes up a lot of my time. Secondly as a practitioner of science, it involves working in the lab, and in my case going away to sample microbes living on glaciers in the Arctic or Alps. Thirdly, a lecturer often has to administrate their science. Research is an expensive business, so you have to work hard to try and catch funding to support your work, as well as direct the work of people in your research group. Finally you have to communicate your science, and this often involves writing papers or giving talks at conferences about your research findings. It can also involve things like school visits or media interviews. All this means a lot of time in the office, some time in the lab and never enough time in the field. |
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Q: What do you love most about your job?I like parts of all four 'jobs' but what I love most is going on fieldwork expeditions to the Arctic. This can mean working in some pretty remote places, with dangers such as crevasses, polar bears or cold injuries, but the opportunities to go places I'd otherwise never have a chance, and work intensively on science in beautiful locations make it unmissable.
Q: What do you like least about your job?I'm just settling into the job and it can be pretty daunting trying to get the off the ground as an independent researcher and a lecturer at the same time. Fortunately new lecturers are assigned an experienced member of staff, usually a senior lecturer, as a mentor to advise on how to get going.
Q: What are the most important skills you need to successfully do your job?The last time I looked at my CV, it had an odd mix of skills on it which are required for the day job, ranging from polar bear defense and weapons handling through to molecular biology, from crevasse rescue to dynamic presentation skills and from casualty care to statistics! I suspect that it's not any of those skills specifically, but rather that they show I have the ability to develop skills and knowledge rapidly and communicate them to others, be it as a research paper or a lecture to students.
Q: What two pieces of information do you wish someone had told you at the start of your career?To be very cautious in estimating the time required to do an experiment: what you think will take an hour, can easily take a day, a day a week, and so on! We also live in a state of profound ignorance about much of the living world since it is microbial in nature, but unfortunately that tiny is not necessarily trivial. |
