I'm moving

Update: As promised, my new home is now live. Come along this new journey with me here



I'm migrating to a new site. Thank you to all my readers and followers since inception in 2011.
New site launching in 2018.

Farewell till we meet again ...

How micro organisms clean your water

I visited the Anglia water education centre at Linslade, Leighton Buzzard for an educational tour of the centre and came away feeling comfortable with drinking tap water.  Prior to this trip I've always been skeptical about drinking tap water. 

So what changed?

The processing plant at the centre recycles sewage water and whiles the process is different to that of processing drinking water, it became clear to me that the product at the other end was safe to drink. Haven said that, I'm not quite sure why bottled water is still being sold and why mothers are advised to boil water before giving to babies. This will suggest that perhaps the pipes through which the water travels are not without contaminants and neither is the final product or perhaps as no process is ever 100% efficient, it's more of a precautionary advise to boil or filter tap water before drinking.

I wont go through the whole sewage purification process as I'll like to encourage you to visit your nearest recycling center to better appreciate the efficiency of this well thought out recycling process. One thing I was really impressed by is the thought that has gone into reducing the carbon foot print of the process and the fact that water purification is achieved by a pure biological process using biological filters.

The micro organisms displayed on the boards above are a selection of the micro organisms found on the stones which purify the water and the image on the right is the biofilters. The overall recycling time for the purification process from sewage to river is about 24 - 36hrs.  

One of the major challenges currently facing the recycling industry is to recycle the landfill waste product from the sewage?



The image on the top left is all the waste that is removed from the sewage and on the right is a tomato plant growing from the seed in poo from the sewage. How interesting!
Image on the  bottom right is excess grit used in construction of roads and buildings. The waste product on the left goes to land fill and the industry is in need of new innovation to recycle it into a useful product.





The water that eventually comes out into the river at the end of the process is as good as new and the fishes love it. . 

IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD: True stories of imaginary illness.

Book Review.

This book came on my radar in October 2016 after it won the 2016 Royal Society of Biology book prize, in the general biology category. Interestingly, of all the shortlisted books on display prior to the winner being announced, it was the one I bookmarked to read.
IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD,  was also the winner of the 2016 Wellcome book prize.

The author, Suzanne O'Sullivan shares a selection of case studies on psychosomatic disorders -  the term that describes illness without disease. It personally got me assessing my outlook on mental illness to better appreciate the various degrees of the condition.
Suzanne's experiences also sheds light on some of the challenges faced by medics in diagnosing patients and the inter disciplinary connections involved in tackling complex cases.  

The stories are fascinating and the author inter twines sympotoms presented with historical facts and studies on psychosomatic illness. It basically sums up the notion of 'mind over body' in a scientific and medical context. What is even more interesting is the conclusion on gender influence.

An intriguing and educative read. Grap your copy here. 

From Law to Engineering – Impact of engagement

Saturday mornings are usually for lay-ins but on this day, it’s 7.30am and I’m headed to Birmingham with a group of young people from my BME community in Basildon. Three trains later we made it to London Euston to board a virgin train to the Birmingham NEC for the Big Bang Fair.

For many of the young people with me that day, neither they nor their parents had come across the Big Bang Fair and this is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK which has been running since 2009. I see myself in a lot of these kids because once upon a time, I too was alien to many of these enriching events and experiences. I’ll save the reasons for another post but what I really want to share is some of the feedback from the young people on the day  and messages from a couple of the parents which highlights the importance of outreach and public engagement with science. 

 

  

  

The journey from Basildon to Birmingham on a Saturday in itself was a chore but the experience for the kids and feedback received from both the young people and their parents reminds me of the essence of engaging young people with STEM and particularly my role in promoting STEM to the BME community. 

Impressions from the day (NB: You may need to magnify images to read text)

I'm looking for a bursary/sponsorship to accommodate more kids next year so if you wish to sponsor us then please get in touch with me: hephziangela@gmail.com

Thanks

Finding my purpose

October 2016 marked the 5 years anniversary of what I call the journey to discovering my purpose. It all started when I completed my post graduate degree and found myself at a cross roads where I was contemplating my next steps. I had time on my hands after a year of lectures, assignments and working to deadlines and I had to fill up that time. Through this gap filling process, I learnt, I grew, I failed, I evolved and more importantly, I discovered my purpose. I was no longer at a cross roads. My path was clear.

As we celebrate InternationalWomen’s Day today, I use the occasion to celebrate my growth and how I’m learning to be bold for change. By sharing some of the lessons I’ve learnt from my journey, I hope to inspire someone else to be bold for change.

Below are some of the recommended experiences and discoveries I made during that time. If you’re a on a path to discover your purpose, particularly if you’re at the early stage of your career, then some of these may be of use.

Careers Fair - Everyone must attend a career fair at least once in their life time – I attended a life science careers fair at the University of Westminster after my post graduate degree. It was the first careers fair I had attended. Up until then, I was pretty much going with the flow into what I felt maybe ideal for me without having sufficient information into the career path. Information with regards to career prospects, what a typical day would entail and salary expectations is not readily available in a relatable way when you try to research online. What I learnt from this careers fair was the various options and sectors within the life sciences which I had no idea about. Some of these included policy, communication and science journalism. By meeting with and hearing from real people and having the opportunity to ask questions I left with a wealth of knowledge about careers in the life sciences which better helped direct my path. One of the talks during the event was a career in academia which was given by my current PhD supervisor. It felt good saying to him during my interview, ‘hey I was in your talk at the life science careers fair a few years ago’. This leads on to my next recommendation, Networking!

Networking – You’ll be amazed at the number of partnerships, projects, businesses and even job offers that come from networking. I’ve come across individuals who decide to attend an event because of a particular person at that event they want to connect with and that first meet has led to successful business partnerships. I can’t advise on successful networking tips but I can guarantee you that there’s almost always an event in your area of interest on a weekly basis. Obviously, it’s practically impossible to attend every networking event, lecture or conference but there will always be that one event you really want to go to. Whiles we may have an interest in various topics, one thing will surpass the other. For me, this is what influences my ease of networking and making contacts at an event. For example, networking an immunology conference may not be as comfortable as networking at a dermatology conference. I’ve had various opportunities and relationships established through conversations at networking events. 

From these connections, there will come a time where you may need to ask for something, which leads in to my next recommendation, #JustAsk. 

#JustAsk –  I embraced this phrase after volunteering on a project a friend was working on. I needed experience in event planning and she had what I needed so I offered my services to learn through the process. One valuable lesson she taught me which has served me well to date is to just ask. You will be amazed at the number of people who are always more than happy to say yes. And if you consider the worst case scenario, what have you got to loose?, nothing! but the time you spent asking. So next time you are contemplating whether or not to ask, just remember to #JustAsk.

This bring me to my next point on volunteering.

There is a wealth of experience in volunteering -  I’ll tell you a story. I came across an advert that read ‘standing up for science in the media workshop for early career researchers’ This was a workshop meant for PhD students and above and it was being organised by an organisation called Sense About Science. I needed to attend that workshop as it was offering something I needed yet I did not qualify as a graduate student. So going my #justask mantra, I sent an email to ask if I could attend and of course the answer was yes! but as a volunteer. This was great news. Not only do I get to attend the workshop but I also get to gain skills in running a workshop. After that workshop I spent about 3 months working at the Sense About Science office gaining invaluable experience on working for a science charity. This is just one of several examples about how volunteering has helped shape my career to date.

Professional membership – Every industry will have a professional group. Whether this is a small network or an established professional organisation, I’ll recommended you sign up to one in your industry. There are usually various membership levels and some of the more established ones will come with a fee with discounts applied based on your career level. These groups serve as a vital source of information for current news and trends in your sector as well as opportunities, career development programs and networking events.  It is advisable to stay updated with your industry and these groups offer a way to keep up.

Training adds value –  I consider myself a science communicator and a public engagement expert and in 2016 I received a prestigious science communication award. I came to this point through various training programs. At the first science communication training workshop that I attended, I barely had any knowledge of the field and attended out of interest. When I got into the industry I still attended training programs designed for those new to the sector because there was always something new to learn, potential collaboration to form and ideas to share.

However much you think you know and whatever your level of expertise, there is always something new to learn that will be of added value. The investment will add value to your knowledge.

Get a mentor – I can’t emphasise this enough. It only took me one meeting with my mentor to re-focus and awaken my inner confidence and to remind myself of the value my work added to that of others as well as why it was important to celebrate success. Whatever stage of life that you find yourself, having a mentor adds value to your development. This can be someone at the peer level,  a spiritual level or a professional level. The important thing with a mentoring relationship is identifying the right mentor for you and having clear targets and expectations of what you hope to gain through the process. Whiles I had known about the value of mentoring for a long time, it was only when I identified the perfect mentoring match that I instigated the relationship and it’s proven to be just what I needed. I’ll explore the value of mentoring more in another post.

Last but not the least;

Take a break - There will be times when you will feel drained. It is ok to stop during these moments for the sake of sanity. In recent times, I have gone through periods where my brain just feels saturated and I just can’t seem to focus or get organised. What, I’ve come to do during these times is turn to my TV. There’s probably three times a week now where I get home and all I do aside the usual routines is relax and find something entertaining to watch. Currently loving #BeingMaryJane. Reading a good book before bed also helps although for me, this only works if the book is a page turner.

Finally, I’ll like to add that, it’s ok to fail as every failure comes with its own lessons learnt. My first PhD upgrade date had to be cancelled as everything was going wrong and I was just not ready. I was determined not to postpone the date, which put me under so much stress. Eventually I had to make the call to cancel which sucked then but it meant I was even more prepared when the time came (or so I thought).  The experience came with several useful lessons and on hindsight I’ll rather it was with the upgrade than the final viva as the lessons learnt will be useful in preparing for the viva. 

I wish you all the best in your endeavours as you discover your own purpose.

Happy International women’s day. #BeBoldforChange.