My experience in physics started at a young age with my dad. I remember as a child; we would watch the cartoon Dr Quantum videos about the “double slit experiment” and “flatland” together and all our car rides were filled with podcasts on different bits of physics and particles. I’m not sure if I would have gone into physics if I was not surrounded by it growing up, if not for the enthusiasm my parents fostered in me. This led me to also try and instil the same sense of wonder in my young siblings and I’ve been into schools to try and inspire other children as well. I think it’s extremely important to be exposed to things in a fun, loose way and I think it kept me going whenever I struggled in my studies.
When I am conducting outreach in schools, I’m reminded of one of my fondest memories of primary school, when I was chosen to attend a weekly science masterclass. I vividly remember doing the "elephant's toothpaste” experiment where the toothpaste nearly reached the ceiling and went all over the table and doing experiments with Bunsen burners long before I learnt about them in school.
Although I liked science, during secondary school, I discovered that I really didn't like maths - sometimes it would make sense and sometimes I couldn't wait to get rid of it. However, it grew on me over the years and now it's one of my favourite subjects and now I teach maths at all levels (maths for physics, I still have a rocky relationship with theoretical maths!)
My desire to be the one to bridge giant concepts - dark matter, relativity, the Universe, and the world of particles gave me the drive to pursue physics despite these challenges. I'd dream of merging my two desires from when I was a child - being an author and being a physicist –and write about the physics I had discovered. I have not wavered from my path since I was a child and though I think I could do well in other fields, it has always been physics for me.
This drove me to do my undergraduate and master's degrees at Liverpool – which I consider the absolute best and hardest times in my life - and to decide to stay at Liverpool to do my PhD. It was a tough choice between the different PhDs I had been offered but ultimately, I choose my current experiments, g-2 and MUonE, and my master's supervisor (who would become my PhD supervisor). During my PhD, it’s been freeing to research all the time and know that my research is helping to push boundaries and build experiments.
Outside of my degree topic, I found that the famous black hole image and various complementary documentaries made me interested in black hole physics specifically and now I've discovered that they have hair! Furthering science accessibility is also a passion of mine which I got to explore while organising CUWIP which made me understand the feeling of community and solidarity that there can be in physics and amongst other likeminded people - I enjoyed the event and the feel of the community so much that I have been inspired to organise my own women in STEM conference.
I’ve been lucky to experience unique highlights during my PhD - I was there when they announced the latest g-2 result and the feeling in the room was electric, and I wish everyone could experience the nail-biting anxiety before the result was read out and then the euphoria in the room when the result was announced. I will be there for the next result and know I helped achieve this.
It's been a hard road - over the years you learn so much and so quickly that it becomes overwhelming and often it’s a slog rather than a passion. However, time and time again I've had my passion reignited by the various activities I've taken part in, helped organised, and attended. I am proud of how far I’ve come, and how long I’ve followed my passion and I know that I will continue to do so as long as I can.