Profile
Kirsten Hawkins
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About Me:
I live with my husband in York. I’m a chemistry researcher in the day 👩🔬 and enjoy baking and cooking in my free time! I have two cats sirius and timmy and also a puppy called luna!
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Read more
I love to learn/solve puzzles and I love to bake these are the things that make me happy! I am a huge animal lover – with a small menagerie! I grew up in the south just north of london and studied for my degree in chemistry at Reading I then moved up to York for my PhD and have basically stayed up here where we can enjoy great food, and the outdoors! I am a huge harry potter fan, very much enjoy watching sitcoms such as miranda (Such Fun!).
I have dyslexia – this doesn’t stop me though! i can often work out problems in a different way to others as i’m much more visual! and when i need help i just ask
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My pronouns are:
She/Her
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My Work:
Currently I work in a synthetic lab making molecules – just like you would if you were baking a cake! we then use techniques like NMR to determine if it was successful, if this was baking youd eat the cake to see if it was yummy or not! The molecules i make are then going to form polymers which we hope will be a little kinder to the world!
Before this I use to make gels to mimic some of the ideas of how life on earth began! gels are so cool!
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My Typical Day:
I wake up and have breakfast (porridge with jam and a coffee). I get to work at 9 am, where I do lots of experiments in the lab. Then I have lunch with friends, and in the afternoon it’s back to the lab to look at my results. I go home at 5pm, relax fuss the animals and make dinner! we then go for a walk in the evening before watching some tv and play with our puppy
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d use the money to create an online web page where children and adults can be informed about products they use and how they can swap to others to be more sustainable in there homes – post recipes which might incline students to take up baking rather than reaching for snack bars which will be wrapped in plastic in turn teaching them to be conscious about what they consume and why.
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Education:
I went to two secondary schools the first Denbigh School from 12-16 then i went to the Royal Latin grammar school 16-18, I had a year out between formal schooling to re-sit some exams! I got the grades I needed to study chemistry at the University of Reading, then I studied for my PhD at the University of York
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Qualifications:
GCSE – 4A, 6B, 1C
A-levels BBC
University – 1st class MChem
Phd – Pass
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Work History:
When i was at school and over my time at university i worked at my local pharmacy where i would help with dispensing prescriptions. When i did my PhD i was able to teaching in the undergraduate laboratories. I then had my first researching job at UCL in 2019 – this didnt work out for me so i looked for a new postion and moved back to york where I am currently
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Current Job:
I am currently a Post Doctoral Research Associate working in sustainable organic chemistry developing sustainable molecules to make polymers which will be bio-degradable and hopefully less harmful to the planet! here i also help out other phd students and teach undergraduate chemistry students.
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Employer:
University of York
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Baker and sustainable chemist
What did you want to be after you left school?
Scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
no
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Baker
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Taylor swift or queen
What's your favourite food?
Curry!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
to have a farm house, my own bakery, create something with impact from my research
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