As a Chemistry Technician I am responsible for preparing and maintaining laboratory equipment and materials for a range of chemistry experiments. I create a variety of chemical solutions for use for different experiments. I follow specific guidelines to make sure everything is accurate and done safely. I'm also familiar with COSHH regulations to handle, store and dispose of hazardous substances properly. I provide technical support to students and staff, troubleshooting experiment issues. My role includes collaborating with academic staff to set up practical demonstrations, conducting routine housekeeping tasks and maintain a safe and efficient lab environment.

At Northburn Solar I provided comprehensive administrative support to the operations and management team to ensure the smooth functioning of daily activities. My role involved managing office communications, scheduling meetings and coordinating logistics for projects. I was responsible for maintaining accurate records, preparing reports and handling data entry tasks. I developed strong organisational skills by managing multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritising workload efficiently. My time at Northburn Solar enhanced my proficiency in Microsoft Office and strengthened my ability to contribute effectively to a dynamic and sustainability focused organisation.

I worked in laboratories at Northumbria University performing pollen acetolysis and pollen counts. This helped to develop my range of skills further through pollen processing, identification and counting. I pinned a range of insects to allow them to be identified to species level. I was responsible for keeping a clean and safe working environment in the laboratories to ensure health and safety conduct was followed. I also conducted fieldwork helping several PHD students to complete their data collections. I oversaw Urban Green’s Beelines Northeast project; I had a lot of responsibilities ensuring the time spent in the field was planned out carefully in order to stick to a strict time schedule and meet deadlines. The fieldwork included insect and plant identification, ecological surveying, team working, time management, organisation, data collecting and storing. I am proficient in the use of all Microsoft Office Software; this was used to input all the data collected from the laboratory and fieldwork.

I was a volunteer at Urban Green Newcastle on their North-East Beelines project. The project aimed to create a network of 45 nectar rich sites to improve urban pollination. A range of skills were developed and further improved such as ecological surveying, insect identification, teamworking, time management, organisation, data collecting and storing. I worked outdoors using ecological equipment such as a soil moisture probe and a kestrel to measure environmental conditions. I gained beneficial ecological experience through recording plant pollinator interactions and built further skills such as GPS, plant identification, pollinator monitoring, data management and storage.

I took part in a six-week Nuffield Foundation Research Placement and joined a research project in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Northumbria University, which was funded by the British Beekeepers Association. During my Nuffield Research Placement, I developed a range of practical transferable skills; ecological surveying, insect identification, microscopy, geospatial analysis, statistics, academic writing, presenting, insect sampling, pollen processing, identification and analysis. I worked in both a laboratory and outdoors giving me valuable experience in health and safety professional conduct, teamwork and working as an individual. I have strong analytical skills from turning my data collection into appropriate graphs to present my findings.