Can you introduce yourself, your role in the university and tell us a bit about your background?
I’m Brianna and I’m an academic in the Department of Physics. I did an undergraduate degree in science, majoring in chemistry, and then did a PhD in physical chemistry. I work at the interface of physics and chemistry. I was previously in a chemistry department, now I’m in a physics department—I have this dual chemist/physicist identity, and I love it, it’s amazing. Members of our research group come from different fields and backgrounds; we have chemists, physicists, people with computer science training, engineering. It gives us an interdisciplinary approach to our research, and we really benefit from having a range of ideas when we are approaching challenges and problem solving.
Why did you choose to work in the University of Liverpool?
I really love the people here. They make it an incredibly friendly environment and a great place to work. My husband’s family is from the North-west so there was a natural pull to be in this region and it really is a fantastic place to be.
What research are you currently undertaking?
I am interested in how collisions happen in the gas phase at a really fundamental level. Our research group is looking at how ions and neutral species react and what happens when they encounter one another. You would think that this is a simple problem that would have been solved ages ago, but there are many open questions! We use a lot of really interesting techniques such as laser cooling, ion trapping and magnetic fields to precisely manipulate the properties of the species we’re looking at. We cool them down to remove any excess energy to allow us to figure out what happens. We are interested in systems that are important in atmospheric chemistry, astrophysical processes and we are investigating new applications with liquid surfaces.
What is your favourite part of this research?
The people. I love doing science as a team. We get to investigate questions that we’re really interested in, and I love that we genuinely don’t know what we’re going to find because no one has done it before. It can be so unexpected! For example, we started studying a reaction as a test system that we thought would be boring and just allow us to figure out the detection methods so we could move onto ‘more interesting’ systems. Well, five years later and we still haven’t moved on to those ‘more interesting’ systems as this supposedly boring system opened so many new questions. The more you dig into it, the more you find. It has been so exciting and has actually opened a whole new area of research, where we are looking at isotope effects and the different reactivity of deuterium and hydrogen and the role that plays with really interesting implications to something called deuterium fractionation (where the abundance of deuterium in molecules that are detected in space is orders of magnitude higher than it should be based on the cosmic D:H background ratio). When doing research, different group members bring their own ideas to the table, and they make if fun. We have quite a small research group, meaning that everyone knows what each other is doing and we all work together. We tackle experiments in small teams of 2-3, because one person can’t run an experiment alone, and this means everyone celebrates each other’s success and I love that. Everyone has something that they are focusing on and can take ownership of, but it’s all part of this bigger picture.
Why did you choose to pursue a career in the Department of Physics?
I think it goes back to the need for interdisciplinarity. I benefit from having different viewpoints and diversity of people, perspectives and backgrounds when doing research. We’re using a variety of techniques that were developed by (primarily) atomic physicists, to answer questions common to both chemical physics and to physical chemistry. I love working in a physics department because I am exposed to new ideas and new approaches that gives me ideas for solving questions that chemists have been asking for years. I can explore new ideas, new applications, new directions we could take from what we have already been working on.
How have your past experiences shaped your approach to teaching and research?
I am always learning; I am constantly trying to improve and I’m hoping that I always will be. I’ve found that everyone is different—for example, the way I supervise students depends on the student and what they need from me and how we can best work together. I really like navigating that space and finding a mix that works best for people. I also just love teaching! I’m so passionate about science, and it’s really fun to explain that to people and share my enthusiasm. To see sometimes those lightbulb moments where something just clicks, or you can see a passion in a student for physics and for science and for a love of research or a love of learning. It’s a really stimulating environment to be a part of.
Did you face any challenges along the way and how did you overcome them?
So many challenges! Sometimes I think it’s not obvious that people have faced challenges. You might look at someone’s track record on a website and think ‘Oh my gosh this person is amazing! Look at all their accomplishments! I wish I could do that’ but what you tend to see is the highlights package. You see the success stories. You don't see the unsuccessful outcomes or the heartbreak and the tears along the way. You see the people who made it through, and so I think it’s easy to get a distorted view. To be able to do scientific research we have to apply for grants, and a lot of the grant schemes that I apply for have rubbish success rates, meaning that a lot of great science is not funded. It can be really challenging knowing how to turn that around, how to turn a negative outcome into a positive one. We have a policy of celebrating success in our group and if anyone has a win, whether it be in research or in life or anything else, we all celebrate together.
It can also be easy to forget that people can be facing personal challenges that are not always obvious. I grew up in Australia and I absolutely loved being in Australia. To be able to do the research that I wanted to pursue as a postdoc, I felt that I had to move to the US, and I found it really hard leaving all of my friends and family behind. Then I accepted a role in the UK, which was another international move, and faced a new environment and new challenges. I’m pleased that there is more awareness now that moving internationally, away from support networks, isn’t feasible for everyone. I have a daughter, and it was hard being a new parent with no family support nearby—having family here is another reason I love living in the North-west! I've had some health challenges as well, having to take periods of medical leave for cancer treatment between 2018-2020 and 2022-2023, and I found that incredibly hard at times. It’s important to be aware that there can be a lot of things going on the background that people don't see. Everyone faces challenges at different times, and it's really important to be kind, to treat people with respect and empathy, and to offer support.
How would you describe the environment at the University of Liverpool?
We have a set of core values in the Department and the University also has codes of conduct and core values statements that set the expectations for how people should behave. I really like that in physics our core values were written by our EDI champions group. We had some interesting conversations about how we want to interact with one another; how to foster a supportive environment where everyone feels safe and valued and respected. I love how organically that came about and how everyone embraced it. Even though people sometimes disagree, they can do so respectfully and that makes for a really positive working environment.
What advice would you give someone considering a career in physics?
Go for it! If it’s what you love to do, then pursue it. Don’t be worried about not knowing everything, because you can’t possibly know everything when you’re starting out. I still don’t know everything about my field and I’m fine with that! I find people who know about the aspects I’m not an expert in, and I collaborate and work with them. One person can’t know it all, and it’s more fun to work as a team. My advice would be to be curious, keep asking questions and seek out people you can work with. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or to seek out mentors.
What are you hoping to achieve in the future?
I want to foster a positive and supportive environment in our research group and to help train the next generation of amazing scientists. I have the pleasure of interacting with a large number of people—all of these amazing undergraduates, postgraduates, postdocs, collaborators—and I know that the impact of what they go on to do will be far greater than any achievement I could hope to attain individually. It is a team sport so I would like to see the people I work alongside go on and achieve amazing things.
Can you tell me more about your role within the EDI Champions?
We have an EDI Champions group in physics that is open to all members of the department. We have undergraduate representatives, postgraduate representatives, members of staff (including postdocs, academics, members of professional services, technicians) and I love that it has a diversity of people at different career stages and in different roles. You don’t need to have any protected characteristics or special interests to be part of it. We are just a group of people who all want to make the environment in the department the best it can be. Sometimes we discuss tricky matters that we want to improve, and sometimes we discuss organising a Pride BBQ! I really like that it is a safe space for people to raise issues they are concerned about or to bring ideas on how we could proactively improve things. We’ve seen positive changes come about as a result of what we’ve done as a committee, and I think there is a lot more that we can and will continue to do. If anyone reading this would like to join the physics EDI Champions group, please email me and I can add you to our mailing list!
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