Profile
Gillian Hunter
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About Me:
Hello! I’m Gillian and I live on the west coast of Scotland with my husband and two children. I’m a lecturer in molecular biology during the day and after-work I keep busy with a variety of things – mostly driving my kids around!
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I love to keep active and am in a local triathlon club. Unfortunately our local pool has just had its roof blown off by Storm Eowyn, but hopefully Loch Lomond will heat up soon for some open water swimming!
I also like to read, knit, bake cakes, travel, make clothes, but also just sit and chill watching a good film or tv show.
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My pronouns are:
She/Her
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My Work:
I primarily work as a lecturer and I teach university students about DNA. This is a molecule found inside cells that is the recipe for life: everybody has a different recipe which is why we are all unique!
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As well as teaching I also sometimes carry out research in a laboratory. My research is looking at a genetic disease that affects how our muscles develop. The disease is called spinal muscular atrophy and it mostly affects babies. In the laboratory we do experiments to look at the DNA inside cells to try and work out what is different in the recipe of people with the disease compared to people who are healthy. If we know more about what causes this disease then new drugs treatments can be developed.
As part of my research I have been to conferences in America to tell them about my project. I also had a student working with me on the project and she was awarded her PhD last year.
My work also involves telling the public about my work. Every year I have an interactive table top display at The Glasgow Science Festival for a few days.
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My Typical Day:
My days can be very varied and no two days are the same! During term time I work mostly on our Glasgow campus all day, but if I am not required for teaching then I can sometimes work at home.
Teaching days in Glasgow are longer days, as I commute to our Glasgow campus from my house. I would typically be up at 6am and be in work for 8am, ready to teach my classes. On a good day, I would aim to be home for 5pm.
If I am working from home, then I will be at my computer by 830am, just after my children have left for school. On these days I get the chance to catch up with admin tasks. I will finish at 5pm.
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A typical teaching day will start at 6am for me. I will have a quick breakfast (porridge!) then catch the 7am train to Glasgow. I get into work just before 8am. My day might include teaching lecture classes (just me talking), tutorial classes (students do questions) or laboratories (students do lab work). Classes vary in length, most of our lectures and tutorials are 1 or 2 hours long. Our laboratory classes can be just one session (4 hours) or a whole day, which can be tiring!
In between classes I might have a chance to catch up with a colleagues or I might be replying to questions from students by email, or in person if they come to my office. What I teach can change every year as we find out new ways of how things work, so I might also spend some of my day learning about this and changing the material I teach. Lecturer’s are responsible for assessing our students, so I often spend time writing exam material and marking it too.
If I don’t have too many other things to do, then I sometimes go into the laboratory to do some experiments. Hopefully you can see how each day could be quite different, it keeps things interesting! Overall, I generally aim to be home by 6pm.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I am a STEM Ambassador and I regularly go into schools and take my big box of activities with me. Some of these are shown in the photos above. I think that everybody learns better when they get to do an activity about it. My activities are designed to teach people about DNA and how it varies between people. I currently have 4 activities. For example: people at my sessions have the chance to extract DNA from strawberries. Or they can do tasting activities where some people think the item tastes one way while others think it tastes different: this is solely due to the DNA differences in their cells. Another activity I get students to do is the Battle of the Beaks: this is where I demonstrate that birds can only eat certain types of food if their beak allows it. Different beak shapes are better for different types of food. I put students into groups and they have a competition to see who can pick up the most food with their ‘bird-beak’, eg. is it easier to eat seeds using chopsticks (beak 1) or a teaspoon (beak 2). The final activity developed so far is that students can make bead bracelets to take away: each bracelet makes a particular DNA sequence, for example the recipe for a toxic protein from a snake.
If I won the £500 prize money I would use it to 1) replenish the items in my Activity Box so that I continue my work, but I would also 2) develop new activities to take into schools and science fairs. My overall aim is to get more school aged children enthusiastic about DNA and genetics!
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Education:
Hamilton Grammar School
University of Glasgow (and Astrazeneca) – MSci in Genetics
Institute of Psychiatry (London) – PhD in Neuroscience
Glasgow Caledonian University – PgC LTHE
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Qualifications:
Standard Grades: English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, PE, French, History
Higher: English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, French, Biology
6th year studies: English, Maths 1, Maths 2
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Work History:
Woolworths, sales assistant
CF Nash, sales assistant
WH Smith, sales assistant + supervisor
Royal Bank of Scotland, bank teller
Astrazeneca, Research Development Genetics
Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience
University of Oxford, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics
Edinburgh University, Department of Medical Genetics
Edinburgh University, Centre for Integrative Physiology
Glasgow Caledonian University, Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences
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Current Job:
Senior Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, Department of Biomedical and Biological Sciences
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Employer:
Glasgow Caledonian University
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
A journalist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not really!
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Writer
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Green Day
What's your favourite food?
Most things except potatoes
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Good health, happy family, job I enjoy
Tell us a joke.
How do you get Pikachu off a boat? Pokemon
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