• Question: what made you become a scientist

    Asked by willsmithy to Edd, Christine, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 13 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by callum1997, jademurphyx, runnerbean24, combelad250, lowne001, storz001, ryan1234, prict010, damien2011.
    • Photo: Edward Codling

      Edward Codling answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      Looking back to when I was young I think I have always been a scientist! I have always been insatiably curious about the world and have always wanted to find out new things and ask questions – this probably used to annoy my teachers, but is essentially the same thing that I do now.

      I just kept on studying things until I ended up in the position I am in now where the science I do is still all about asking questions and thinking about new ideas. I didn’t really have a plan when I was younger to become a scientist – I just kept on doing what I enjoy!

    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Growing up, I was always fascinated by the world around us. I watched David Attenborough programmes and was amazed by the diversity of life on this planet. I was also amazed by how little we actually know about this life: the number of species on Earth is estimated to be between 5 and 30 million, but only 2 million have actually been named and classified! New discoveries are made every day – 600 new species have been found on the island of Madagascar in the past decade alone! We know almost nothing about these species – what do they eat? How do they breed? How long do they live?

      I became a scientist because I wanted to find answers to questions like this! Animals are interesting and I love studying them.

    • Photo: Jessica Chu

      Jessica Chu answered on 11 Jun 2011:

      Biology have always been my favourite subject because I find it fascinating how (simply speaking) everyone’s cells in the brain and body are made up of the almost the same chemicals such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphate etc. and by having more or less of certain chemicals (or different ways they are put together) can have such big effects on how we look, think and act!!!

      Without really thinking what kind of career I wanted, I just chose to do Biochemistry at uni because I love to know what is going inside our cells- how millions of these tiny cells can work together and will know just what to do to keep us alive !! 🙂

    • Photo: Christine Switzer

      Christine Switzer answered on 12 Jun 2011:

      Initially, I wanted to be a doctor or a vet. At university, I realised that neither of those subjects were for me. Too much remembering required. I chose engineering on a whim — in the US, you do not apply directly into medical programmes from school — because it involved subjects that I enjoyed (maths, physics, chemistry) and discovered that I enjoyed it enough as a possible career. As a postgraduate, I got into environmental engineering and eventually fell in love with teaching as well. This led me to become a researcher and just recently, a lecturer. I get to develop projects that interest me and I get to work with students. When I feel “done” with something, I can move on to other research areas. I love change and my career path means that no two days are alike.

    • Photo: Nicolas Biber

      Nicolas Biber answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I think you never start or stop becoming a scientist. It all depends how many questions you can come up with. When I was a kid I used to lay awake for hours because of questions I could not find a good answer for: when did the universe start, what was there before that, where does it end, and what is beyond there. Later instead of laying awake I began enjoying the challenge. I have always wanted to get to the bottom of things, and I think that’s what has made me and is still making me become a scientist.

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