Question: Do you think your research area benefits us as humans? and why did you choose this area to study?

My research area benefits humans in a few ways I think. 1. Fossils fuels are running out, the research I do into alternatively derived fuels will help us be able to power our devices and vehicles in the future. 2. My work helps to reduce the degradation and oxidation of fuels, so less fuel will be wasted and thrown away. 3. The oxidation reactions that I study don’t just happen in fuels, some of them happen in bacteria, animals and humans and the work can be applied to those areas too

When I first saw the ad for a job as a fuel scientist I thought it would be boring! But I applied anyway because the skills I had built up in my previous jobs fit in very well with this one. Turns out fuels are actually really fascinating and I’m very happy to be working where I am now. So, I didn’t really choose to work with fuels, but I did choose to specialise in analytical chemistry which can be applied to a huge range of different areas in science.