Author: mahnooranjum

Anyone can be a scientist.

I started university with no idea what I wanted to do, so I applied for a double degree in biology and history, the two subjects I liked most in high school. I worked out pretty early on that biology was the one I wanted to do as a career, but the degree in history helped me a lot with writing and critical thinking. After my bachelor’s degrees were finished, I completed an honors year in ecology, mostly as a way to see if I liked academia. My project focused on the impacts of environmental stress and population decline on the behavior of the eastern grey kangaroo. I’ve always liked knowing how things worked, and doing my own research was something that I enjoyed very much. I applied for a PhD candidature and was accepted, now I’m two years in and continuing my research into kangaroo behavior. STEMM is a great way for curious people to find out more about the world, and contribute to the collective knowledge in their relevant fields. Often people make the mistake of thinking that STEMM is only for the top percentile of people, but all you really need to succeed is a passion for learning and the dedication to follow that through until you have your results. STEMM is for everyone. 

The future is yours to write, so why not be creative?

I was one of those kids that thought they knew what they wanted to do; however, life has a funny way of steering us onto unplanned paths. I always wanted to be an astrophysicist, researching the wonders of the cosmos after having been mesmerized by the night sky as a child. During my PhD, I had a realization: I loved teaching astronomy and physics and sharing my wonder with others. Armed with my newfound passion, I could have felt stuck; a path to a career in teaching when I’d been trained as a researcher was not straightforward, but it was also not impossible. I made a plan to upskill where I could and gain more valuable teaching experiences. My efforts were rewarded with a position as an Education Focused Lecturer at UNSW. I am a firm believer that while it is so easy to follow what is “tried and true”, you must follow what you enjoy and forge a new path, even if you can’t easily see one ahead!