Well let’s start off talking about completely unscientific stuff: What is your favourite band pre 1980?
Fleetwood Mac
Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
Green Day
Favourite movie?
Back to the Future, Snatch
Do you listen to podcasts? What are some of your favourites?
Yes. Herpetological Highlights, SquaMates and The Critter Shed
Where do you study and who is your supervisor?
The University of Kent, Professor Richard Griffiths
What year of your PhD are you in?
First Year
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
NERC via EnvEast for 3.5 years
Do you have any publications?
There’s a few, best to see them all here.
Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?
MRes Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at Imperial College London. Did two 6 month projects, one on looking at chytrid fungus in Madagascan amphibians and the other based at the Natural History Museum looking at spatial shifts in Asian amphibian species based on type specimens and where the species can currently be found.
Do you do fieldwork? What is the best fieldwork you have ever done and what made it great?
YES! Surveying urban garden in Cambridge for midwife toads – got to meet a new community and educate them about an invasive species whilst carrying out some disease monitoring.
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
Just the one (and I go it), wasn’t much choice. Something that twinned fieldwork with disease ecology in either reptiles or amphibians.
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
Some old waders fixed with duct tape, they worked but my leg got wet.
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Don’t worry if you haven’t got the skillset when you apply, there is plenty of time to learn and pick things up along the way. I had no confidence with R during the first half of my masters but now I’m proficient enough to do what I need to (although Google is still my friend).
How often do you meet with your supervisor?
It depends if either of us are away from the office, but at least once a month.
What supervisor traits are important to you?
Approachable, modest, understanding
What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?
Arrogant, rude, egoistical
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
I study the population dynamics in a population of grass snakes and investigate the effects of disease.
What has been your academic highlight of the last year?
Finishing my Master’s and starting my PhD three days later.
Have you had an academic lowpoint of the last year – if so what happened?
Starting my PhD and feeling out of my depth, quickly found my way though thanks to all the wonderful people in the department.
Which academic idol/scientist have you met?
Jane Goodall
Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?
Brian Cox
Who has been your academic role model/inspiration and why?
I’m not sure I have one, I’ve just carried on doing what I love and made the natural progression to PhD.
Do you have a favourite paper?
I’m a huge fanboy for anything that is found in amber and these two papers steal the top spot for me:
What has been your favourite conference so far – why?
Amphibian Conservation Research Symposium 2017 – it was just a fun few days with lots of great talks on a topic I’m really passionate about whilst also meeting some amazing people.
What hours do you typically work?
10-5, I’m not a morning person so even that is a struggle sometimes.
How do you avoid procrastinating?
By keeping my work and social lives separate and only completing PhD tasks when in the office.
What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?
The pursuit of knowledge and exploring the unknown.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
I read a lot of popular science books and comics. Like to go for walks and I’m partial to a bit of photography as well.
If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?
Consistent reptile survey friendly weather in the summer, working in the UK I doubt I’m going to get it!
What would be your dream job?
Working somewhere in research, with a reasonable budget working on whatever project I’m happy to get my teeth into.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully in a post-doc position continuing along the same sort of vein as what I’m currently doing.
One word to sum up your future in academia: Optimistic (in the light of Brexit)
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
I’m hoping to finally pass my driving test.
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
My custom built HP laptop, it’s a processing beast that is just so smooth!
Where is somewhere you would like to work in the future?
This is a tough one, I’m not entirely sure. The current political climate has made me slightly more apprehensive.
Do you have a favourite organism – what is it and why – is it different from your study organism?
The great crested newt, studied them for my undergraduate and haven’t looked back. Have you seen their little smiley faces?
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience ?
I’ve got a number of conferences lined up and as it’s still early days I’m hoping that one of them will do the job.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?
This is a tough one, I’d like to see more cross collaboration between students/staff.
What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
I feel that more could be done to monitor emerging infectious diseases in Europe but because the mass die-offs usually associated with them haven’t been observed, academics and authorities haven’t been too worried about it. Without knowing where these disease are, how can we mitigate their effects if for some reason they become more virulent such as a change in the climate.
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