Staff Profile

Background

After studying for an MPhys at Durham University I continued at Durham to complete a PhD. My PhD looked at experimental investigations of high temperature superconducting tapes under both tensile and compressive strain with a view to using them in the superconducting magnets used to confine fusion plasmas.

During my time as a postgraduate I found a passion for outreach and engagement, delivering sessions to various audiences, developing new resources and demonstrations, and organising events. Upon finishing my PhD I followed my passion for engagement taking a job as Regional Coordinator with the Institute of Physics, developing and delivering their regional programme of engagement activities, and managing their local stakeholder network, before moving to Newcastle in my current role.

Outreach and Engagement

As Ogden Outreach Officer I am responsible for coordinating our physics outreach programmes. The overall goal of our programmes is to encourage more students to take physics at A-level and university by reducing the real and perceived barriers that prevent a student from feeling like physics is something "for me".

My responsibilities as Ogden Outreach Officer include:

• developing, delivering and coordinating our programme of physics outreach activities
• training undergraduate and postgraduate students to deliver our outreach activities
• evaluating the impact of our outreach
• developing our physics outreach strategy
• lowering barriers, and providing guidance and resources to other members of the School interested in developing their own outreach activities
• fostering an environment where outreach and public engagement is part of the normal activity of the School
• working with other members of the faculty and university to coordinate our outreach efforts

Transition

As Transition Officer I aid the Stage 1 students in their transition from A-levels to university life. This includes pastoral and academic support for Stage 1 students, and monitoring their attendance and academic performance.

• Branch P, Tsui Y, Osamura K, Hampshire DP. Weakly-Emergent Strain-Dependent Properties of High Field Superconductors. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 13998.