Ingrid Sulston, former EMBL Genome Biology Diploma student and daughter of Nobel Prize winning scientist, John Sulston, shares her passion for science education, and the path that led her to this profession in Canada.

“I am a science educator, a profession that I love, though it took me a while to discover. I work with teachers to bring more hands-on science into school classrooms, and it’s a joy to see students who thought they didn’t like science become excited once they experience it hands-on. Hands-on science is a  critical part of teaching science to children, but all too often it’s a challenge to accomplish due to limited resources at schools or insufficient training in this area.

“My work at EMBL with Angus Lamond in 1989 offered me a critical exposure to first class science and mentorship, and a stepping stone to a PhD at  Berkeley. In graduate school though, I realised that I was more interested in general science, and teaching it to the public than being a specialist. After my PhD, I worked in science centres and botanical gardens, until I started teaching in classrooms, and realised that I had found my niche.

“I still do science every day: whether it’s developing a buoyancy lesson in our bathtub, helping students graph how far their catapults can project, or figuring out how to slice open a cow heart to reveal all the chambers. As a science educator, I am lucky to be able to share the excitement and joy of the basic science of our world with teachers and children.”

More information on Ingrid’s work is available at www.ingridscience.ca.