Dashboard – Psychology Zone

About Me:

I’m a science communicator, writer, and podcaster. I mostly occupy my free time by reading books, listening to podcasts, or trying to spend time outside.
My pronouns are:

she/her
My Work:

I’m a science communicator with a background in psychology and neuroimaging, and I co-host the pop-science podcast, After School Science Club.
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Although I’m not a psychologist in my job, I did psychology and neuroimaging (aka scanning the brain) at university. Working as science communicator means you have to think carefully about how you talk to people and write stories, especially because there’s a lot of fake news out there.

I also work a lot on social media which requires you to understand how people take in information – our attention spans are a lot shorter than they used to be, so you have to hook people in in just a sentence or two, otherwise they’ll just scroll right past.
What I'd do with the prize money:

I’d spend it on better podcasting software! I currently co-host a pop science podcast, so having proper editing software would speed up the editing process so we can produce more episodes.

Candidate CV questions (extra)

Education:

I went to Montgomery High School in Blackpool, then Blackpool Sixth Form where I studied Psychology, Art and Music.

After that, I went to the University of Manchester to study psychology as an undergraduate, then did a Master’s degree in Neuroimaging for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience at the same uni. The title of my Master’s degree sounds complicated, but it’s basically just brain scans and how we can use them to learn more about psychology and the brain.
Qualifications:

GCSEs – English Literature, English Language, Double Science, Maths, Performing Arts, Music, French, PE.

A Levels – Psychology, Art, and Music. I actually started college doing Psychology, Art, Biology, and Chemistry, but I dropped Chemistry after two months because I found it too hard, and I spectacularly failed Biology in my first year. So I dropped Biology and took up Double Music to make up for it in my second year.

Undergraduate (Bachelors) – Psychology

Master’s – Neuroimaging for Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience
Work History:

Associate Editor, then Deputy Editor, then Editor at Texere Publishing (2020-2023)

Research Administrator for a VR Lab at the University of Manchester (2019-2020)

Research Executive at Havas Lynx (2018-19)

Receptionist at the University of Manchester (2017-18) (I did this job while doing my Master’s degree).
Current Job:

I’m a freelance science communicator.
Employer:

Self-employed

My Interview
- How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
  
  bookish science writer
  
  What did you want to be after you left school?
  
  A forensic psychologist, but when we studied forensic psychology at uni I realised it wasn't what I thought it would be. And by the end of uni I also realised I preferred talking about science more than actually doing it.
  
  If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
  
  A psychiatrist
  
  Who is your favourite singer or band?
  
  Daughtry
  
  What's your favourite food?
  
  Chocolate