Tomhawke's Blog
What inspired me to be a scientist?
Posted By: tomhawke, Dr. Hawke on Saturday, November 19, 2005
Natalie from the USA Big Bad Wolves asked what inspired me to be a scientist and wondered about the neatest thing I’ve done so far in my career.
What inspired me to be a scientist?
Wow, I am not sure how to answer that. I was always good in school, not great but good. I always found I learned best when I discovered the answer, not when I read it or had someone tell me. When I went to university, I took a research course that let me work in the lab. From that moment I knew I wanted to do research. I found myself thinking of the experiments I was working on all the time. I liked going into the lab, thinking about science and talking to people about it.
I think I was lucky to find out what I like to do (and lucky enough to be able to do it!)
What is the neatest thing I have done in my career?
Well, I would say being in Antarctica is definitely the coolest thing! I have also trained at the University of Oslo (in Norway) and at the University of Sydney (in Australia) which were both amazing places to be. I also did some field work in Bryce Canyon in Utah (which is beautiful). I thought that being a scientist would mean only lecturing and working in my lab but in fact I have seen more of the world doing this than I could have imagined with most other jobs!
Dr. Hawke
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