Profile

I am a vet that works with small animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. I am also a more traditional ‘scientist’ that does research at The University of Nottingham, and teaches the vet students there. My research is trying to find out how to make vet students better at making decisions.

Vets have to make a lot of decisions every day, for example:

* What is wrong with this sick animal?

*How can I find out what is wrong? Should I do an x-ray?

*What medicine should I use to make this animal better?

I am trying to make vet students better at making decisions, so that when they graduate they can help more animals get well again.

I come into the office at about 9am (I have my own desk!) and start up my computer to check my emails. Sometimes I will then go and teach vet students for a few hours. If I am not teaching that day, I will do some work on my computer instead, looking at what the results from my research say. I also do a lot of reading, to find out what other scientists think about decision making and veterinary education. I normally have peanut butter on toast for lunch (yum!) then either teach or conduct research in the afternoon. Another big part of my job is to show other people my research and answer questions they have about it.

Sometimes extra fun days come along where I get to go and visit other scientists around the country!