Student Stories
Kefilwe Roba Moalosi is a Nutrition and Food Safety specialist at the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), a technical and development agency of the African Union. She completed the MSc Food Safety and Quality Management at NRI in 2009. Kefilwe took five minutes out of her day to talk to us about her career, life at NRI and inspiration for her work.
Umar Muhammad is currently in the third year of his PhD programme based in the Department of Agriculture, Health and Environment at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI). He took five minutes out his day to talk to us about his inspiring life journey and desire to make an impact.
Prabath Jayasuriya came to the UK from his home country Sri Lanka, to follow his passion for chemistry by studying for his Master’s degree in Food Safety and Quality Management at NRI, University of Greenwich. It was a school science lesson, a lump of sodium and some water, that first ignited his interest for doing experiments in a lab. Prabath takes up the story.
Hayley Thompson has finally found her ‘ideal job’ – identifying pathogens in rodents – here at NRI, University of Greenwich. Her career journey to become a Molecular Microbiologist has taken her on a circuitous route, and has involved a variety of roles and projects, juggling work with childcare and long commutes along the way. Hayley takes up the story:
Self-confessed ‘foodie’ Eli Gasgil wanted to keep as many career options open as possible, but found herself being drawn irrevocably towards working in the food industry. Now happily in her dream job, she credits NRI for giving her the necessary skillset to make the move. Eli takes up the story.
Katie James, Lydia O’Meara, Rania Hassan |
The obstacles facing women in academia exist at multiple stages in their career. Despite the fact that over half of all PhDs have been awarded to women in recent years, the percentage of permanent female academic staff is between 20–30% in the EU and US, and women are currently underrepresented as first authors in high-impact journals [1]. Women in the UK occupy only 17.5% of senior academic positions [2]; of this, only 2% are women of colour [3].
Claudia Carvalho went from being a specialist in potatoes and other tuber and root crops at NRI, to becoming a soft fruit supremo at Berry Gardens, a leading berry and stone fruit production and marketing group in Kent, UK. Her love of crops and all things agricultural has also satisfied her love of travel, taking her from Europe to America, Africa and Asia . Claudia took five minutes out of her day to talk to NRI Communications Officer, Linden Kemkaran, about how she chose her career path and her ongoing passion for agriculture.
2020 was the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), set up by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as a significant opportunity to celebrate the benefits of healthy plants. As some key initiatives were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the awareness-raising year was extended until summer 2021. This was when Ambrozy Boguslawski, Biochemistry undergraduate from Southampton University, undertook a Plant Health Undergraduate Studentship with NRI.
NRI PhD student Manuela Carnaghi’s winning streak continues apace, with her recent victory in the National Three Minute Thesis – 3MT – competition where doctoral researchers compete to deliver the best research presentation in just three minutes and using just one slide. Manuela’s 3MT presentation entitled, ‘Houston, the mosquito has landed’, was voted for by the audience as the best presentation and won the People’s Choice Award. Manuela takes up the story.
Bradley Cory dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot, but a life-changing incident that happened when he was just 16 forced a total reassessment of his future. Obtaining his first degree at the University of Greenwich and working on his PhD with NRI, Bradley is forging a new career coupled with a desire to ‘give something back’. Bradley took five minutes out of his day to chat with NRI Communications Officer, Linden Kemkaran, about his life and goals.
Dr Valentine Seymour is a research scientist whose interests focus on the interface between human health, policy and the natural environment. Valentine began her scientific career with a BSc in Environmental Science from NRI at the University of Greenwich. She took five minutes out of her day to chat to NRI’s Communications Officer, Linden Kemkaran, about making the switch from arts to science, and how her idea of bliss is to have a good rummage in a river.
Babajide Milton Macaulay grew up in Nigeria dreaming of becoming an architect, but his grades at school were always much higher in biology, so he decided to follow the life sciences path instead. Milton took five minutes out of his day to Skype with NRI Communications Officer, Linden Kemkaran, about how studying at NRI built a solid foundation for him to reach his career goals.