Profile

I live in a small town just outside Loughborough with my husband and two cats in a cottage built 150 years ago. I like to keep fit by running, going to the gym and doing pilates. I love baking, but I am not as good as Great British Bake off standards! I also enjoy growing my own fruit and vegetables in our garden. I love to travel (when money and time off work permits!) and learn about the culture of the country, especially eating all the local food. I am a bit of a foodie and like to try and cook food from all over the world.

For my PhD I study how athletes with a spinal cord injury control their body temperature. Athletes with this type of injury can compete in a number of Paralympic Sports, such as wheelchair rugby, basketball, athletics and handcycling. But these athletes cannot sweat or control their blood flow below their injury. Both sweating and controlling your blood flow are important mechanisms to stop your body getting too hot. When individuals exercise, they produce heat but athletes with a spinal cord injury aren’t able to get rid of this heat so my research aims to look at the problem and ways athletes can try to overcome it.

My work also involves providing sport science support to a number of Paralympic squads. My research group provides fitness testing for these squads and looks at ways we can help improve their performance.

Being a scientist is so variable. Each day is different. When conducting a study, you need to plan the study, apply for funding, buy equipment, test out equipment, recruiting participants, testing the participants, analyse the data, write up the findings of the study, present your findings to other scientists and publish your findings in a scientific journal.

When testing, days can be long and you have to think on your feet as things do not always go to plan. But it is a satisfying and enjoyable experience. Plus you always get to meet so many people who volunteer to take part in the study. I always enjoy having a chat and learning about them during testing. Testing also doesn’t just happen in laboratories but also in the field too, such as during sporting competitions or simulated performance where athletes train and/or compete. My participants always inspire me when they talk about the challenges they have faced in life and how they have and continue to overcome them.

Writing and presenting the findings of the study can be in many forms – reports, posters, presentations, scientific articles, magazine articles, radio reports etc. You also get the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world and present at scientific meetings to other scientists or visit other laboratories to learn new techniques and about the research they are doing. Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to go to Japan to present to three different universities and learn new techniques. Plus I got to do some sightseeing too with members from their laboratories.

Talking about Science does not just happen in the laboratory but, for example, whilst having a coffee in a café, whilst going for a run (Sport Scientists love active discussions!) or over dinner.