Member profiles
Our latest profiles explore the working lives of Professor Gordon Maxwell FRSB, an ecologist and conservationist, and nurse and microbiologist Dr Suzy Clare Moody MRSB
20th February 2023
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Professor Gordon S Maxwell FRSB on saving old and valuable trees across East Asia and New Zealand
Gordon Maxwell has been a member of field-based research teams with the United States Antarctic Program and UNESCO. Although he is technically retired he continues to lead fieldwork and conservation projects, splitting his time between Hong Kong and his farm in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand.
My alarm goes off…
Rarely, as it is not needed – alarms seem to arise naturally in my head. Typically the day begins with a quick look at my messages to see what responses may be needed. In Hong Kong or New Zealand each day may bring something new, and requires a flexible mindset and an awareness that something unexpected may arise – dealing with living things and life outdoors is like this.
A typical day…
Depends where I am. In Hong Kong I may be working on treatment measures for an old and valuable tree or leading adults or school parties on a tree walk around my recreation club, a 1.9-hectare green oasis in the ultra-urban city. In New Zealand activities may be farm related, such as feeding out hay to dry stock, fixing electric fences or gates, monitoring ragwort study sites or visiting long-established coastal mangrove research areas.
My work is voluntary and perhaps is better described as sustaining my lifelong interests as a biologist, and how biology can enhance people’s lives by deepening their connections with and understanding of the living systems that maintain the air, water and environment.
I am currently…
Working on a paper on mangroves as eco-engineers and the impact of feral pigs on Hong Kong’s semi-natural and struggling rural ecosystems. Every month or two I exchange ideas on a big mangrove forest ecosystem project with some long-term friends in Thailand.
After work…
I enjoy sharing ideas on many different topics with others, especially over a Chinese meal. To ensure that I can continue to embrace fieldwork with trees, and jobs on my farm, I do gym workouts with weights and on the bike. Karaoke helps too, and often creates unexpected flows of novel lines of thought.
THE CAREER LADDER
Dr Suzy Clare Moody MRSB on her unusual dual career
Dr Suzy Clare Moody is a lecturer in eukaryotic microbiology at Kingston University and a critical care nurse at University Hospital Southampton.
I first discovered biology…
With my dad. He’s an ecologist and a love of the natural world was part of my childhood. I started in care work when I was 14, working in a nursing home, and that really confirmed that I wanted to work in something biology-based with caring for people at the heart.
I studied…
My first degree in microbiology at Cardiff University, then I took a gap year to work in India with Mother Teresa’s nuns. I came back to the UK and trained as a nurse. I did my master’s in infectious disease at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine part-time while working as an ICU nurse, which was really tough and took a lot of determination.
I worked…
Overseas for three years, then came back and did my PhD studentship at Swansea University. By doing a PhD as a mature student I was more focused, self-motivated and far more independent than I would have been straight from my undergraduate degree. I think I could have stayed just in science, but when COVID-19 hit the UK and the NHS called ex-nurses back to work, I went back part-time alongside my academic work.
I always knew…
I wanted to do something with microbiology. Microbes fascinate me – environmental or pathogenic, how they function, how they interact, what they’re capable of doing, the diversity and intricacies of communities. The fascination is endless – there’s so much we don’t know.
This is an interesting area to work in because…
I don’t know any other nurses who are microbiologists! I get lots of interest in what I do – partly because of having two very different jobs and partly because my lab research is on the bioremediation of textile waste. There are very few people in the world who work on this. Let’s face it, if you say your research is about growing mushrooms on old pants, then most people want to know more.
A key piece of advice would be…
Pursue your passion, make your own opportunities and be kind.
Any regrets?
No. Being a scientist (and mum) makes me a better nurse and being a nurse makes me a better person.
In the future I hope to…
Have fun, do amazing science and enable my students to do the same.
Gordon Maxwell FRSB has been a member of field-based research teams with the United States Antarctic Program and UNESCO. Although he is technically retired he continues to lead fieldwork and conservation projects, splitting his time between Hong Kong and his farm in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand.
Dr Suzy Clare Moody MRSB is a lecturer in eukaryotic microbiology at Kingston University and a critical care nurse at University Hospital Southampton.
