Sarah Cosgriff

Science Communicator

I have liked science since I can remember. My parents were both scientists and used to let me have things like science books and a microscope. Sciences, in particular biology and chemistry, were subjects I was also pretty good at when I was in secondary school. I ended up studying biology at university and went down a research route – because that’s what everyone does, right? But I found out that doing research wasn’t the right thing for me and there are actually lots of things you can do if you’ve studied science. I ended up becoming a science communicator. It’s the perfect thing for me because I like science and I like talking to people.

Over time, I became interested in why we tend to see certain people go into science. For example, we tend to see more men in some STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) jobs than women. I now work for the Institute of Physics and in my job, I look into why we see less girls take physics than boys. Girls and boys do equally well at physics so it’s important to look at what could be preventing girls from choosing physics.

As well as it being interesting, I really like working with young people and the teachers in schools. I also set up my own business. Different organisations hire me to give talks to people, help people improve their science communication skills (through training) and I will occasionally be involved in long term projects. It’s nice to be in charge of your work and it was fun to learn how to run a business. You don’t need a business qualification to run your own business but there is a lot to learn.

In my spare time I like to read books, collect enamel pins and trying to learn Tagalog which is one of the languages spoken in the Philippines (where my mum’s side of the family are from).

Say Hi to Sarah on Twitter here