• Question: Is anyone else in your family as passionate about science as you are?

    Asked by katiearis to Amelia, Jim, Liz, Prateek, Richard on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Jim Caryl

      Jim Caryl answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I’m actually from a family of scientists. My Dad trained as a marine biologist and went to work on the coast of East Africa for years, and then became a science teacher when he returned to the UK. He gave me a love of biology and every walk in the country was like a little science lesson, and fun because he was/is a fun Dad and good teacher.

      My younger sister also has a PhD, except hers is in zoology. She researches the interaction between native Australian bats and the man-made environment of the city (how do they adapt to buildings rather than trees – and how can we protect them); she works at the University of Melbourne in Australia. You can read a newspaper article about some of her work here: http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-secret-life-of-microbats-to-be-revealed-20091209-kk2d.html

    • Photo: Amelia Markey

      Amelia Markey answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Well unlike Jim I have absolutely no scientists in my family that I’m aware of. In fact no-one in my family is particularly academic apart from my sister who when to uni and is now an accountant but she’s 18 years older than me so wasn’t around much when I was growing up. The only real thing I can think of is my dad has always been into bird-watching and nature so there’s a bit of a link there…

      I can be quite difficult to get the understanding and motivation to do your work if there is no-one else like that in your family but you shouldn’t let that discourage you. I did it, I’ve had all the support I needed at school from teachers and then when you get to uni and beyond you will meet tons of people who are also interested in learning and the same things you are 🙂

    • Photo: Prateek Buch

      Prateek Buch answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      my brother did a degree in human genetics and is now a barrister looking to specialise in medical law. My father is a doctor, and my wife is a chemistry teacher – so yes, science rules in my family!!

    • Photo: Richard Badge

      Richard Badge answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Nobody else in my immediate family is a scientist (although my wife has a PhD in botany) at the moment. My mum was a lab technician in a hospital when I was a baby, but we really did not talk about this until I was in my teens.

      There are however quite a few teachers in my family and they were a great influence on me growing up – always asking questions and helping me to find the answers. So I guess one reason for my passion for science is the idea that it is a system for learning, that works for anything that you are intersted in… which is very cool to me!

    • Photo: Lizzard O'Day

      Lizzard O'Day answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      No one in my immediate family is involved in science. My mom and dad are both smart and hard working but science isn’t really their forte- and my brothers really aren’t as excited about it as me. However, something very cool- my grandmother was a chemist. Way back in the day she went to college and was a chemistry major (which was practically unheard of as a female back then). She’s 92 years old now and still loves to hear what I’m up to. She also had 12 kids and is now a grandma, great-grandma to a whole clan– like 40+ kids!

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