Member profiles
Our latest profiles explore the working lives of PhD student Liam Liam Cini O’Dwyer MRSB, conservation biologist Sreenath Subrahmanyam FRSB, and RSB Council member Patricia Kuwabara FRSB.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Liam Cini O’Dwyer MRSB is a PhD candidate in science education at King’s College London
My alarm goes off…
At 6:00. I have a coffee and then cycle to the gym to do a morning workout. After that I head to university [King’s College London].
My work involves…
Exploring issues of exclusion and participation of LGBTQI+ youth in science education. A recent All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM and STEM Education sadly found that there was a lack of LGBTQI+ people in these fields. I am interested in finding out the reasons behind this. The APPG inquiry concluded that there was not enough research into LGBTQI+ experiences, especially longitudinal studies of LGBTQI+ youth and how their science educational experiences impact their decisions in continuing with science education post compulsory level. So, this is the basis of my study – to find out what is happening to LGBTQI+ youth in schools to turn them off STEM careers.
On a typical day…
I might give a lecture to trainee teachers on the science education course; conduct some participant interviews for my research; take part in a curriculum committee meeting at the RSB; record an episode of KCL’s Education, Communication and Society Podcast;
or help organise the Mind the Gap Conference into LGBTQI+ research.
Right now…
I am exploring how the intersectional identities within the LGBTQI+ umbrella are treated differently in schools and consequently how they are impacted differently by the separate science subjects. I am seeing correlations between my own initial findings that science is orientation biased and previous research that showed that science is gender biased.
I work with…
The fantastic CRESTEM [Centre for Research in Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] team at King’s College London. They are incredibly knowledgeable and their research is highly varied. I feel very lucky to work with them.
I also…
Teach part time at The Grey Coat Hospital School in Westminster. I have always loved teaching and hope to be able to continue doing so while studying for my PhD.
After work…
I might go for a swim or mark students’ work. On a Friday night I usually meet my husband for dinner and head out to see a late-night exhibition. I love exploring all the wonderful things that London has to offer.
THE CAREER LADDER
Sreenath Subrahmanyam FRSB on investigating the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems
I first discovered biology…
At 16, while trekking in the Western Ghats of India to visit Sabarimala, which houses a Hindu shrine in a biodiversity hotspot in Kerala. Trekking into the forest every monsoon season for the last 25 years made me appreciate the tropical rainforests, and admire the complex interactions that sustain them and our responsibility to maintain them for posterity.
Currently…
I am director of the Institute of Bioecosciences in Herndon, Virginia, US. My group investigates the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems and we are developing a database of strategies, with my team actively engaged in the collection of field data in the US and India.
I studied…
Plant biology (BSc) at the University of Madras and environmental sciences (MSc) at Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India, before doing a PhD in computational modelling of biosensors at Cranfield University. Later, I studied natural resources management at the University of California, Berkeley. I was privileged to have been associated with accomplished professors such as Anantanarayanan Raman (Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia), David W Martin (Davidson College, NC, US), Sergey Piletsky (University of Leicester) and David Zilberman (UC, Berkeley, US), among others.
A pivotal point in my career was…
Getting an Australian Endeavour Scholarship application to work with Professor Anantanarayanan Raman (Charles Sturt University), a renowned ecologist. The research discussions, interactions, field visits, lectures, laboratory experiments and other key learning opportunities enabled me to see ecological science in a new light. Raman transformed the way I teach and research biology today.
My work is exciting because…
I get opportunities to work with bright young minds from around the world, do interesting fieldwork and do my bit to conserve nature.
A suggestion I could give is…
That if you chase your passion, it is impossible to fail.
As an outreach activity…
I conduct environmental leadership and conservation programmes in the US and India to identify young talent and motivate them to consider biology, ecology and environmental science as career options. I hope to extend this to other countries too.
MY SOCIETY AND ME
Patricia Kuwabara FRSB is emerita professor of genomics at the University of Bristol
I joined the RSB and Council to help deliver a unified voice for biology with the potential to inform and influence government policies.
As a member of the RSB Education and Science Policy (ESP) Committee, I provide a link with Council. The ESP committee addresses strategic priorities across education and science policy. It has scrutinised issues such as national curriculum reviews, research funding and international collaboration, and climate change and biodiversity.
I also chair the College of Organisational Members and am on the RSB’s Membership and Professional Affairs Committee, which oversees membership, accreditation and professional registers. One of my roles is to host a series of Member Organisations Twilight Sessions of topical interest, such as a brief from Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser (chief executive of UKRI) on ‘The future of UK research’.
Working with the RSB has been highly rewarding. I encourage members to apply to fill committee vacancies and non-member colleagues to join the RSB and lend their expertise to enhance the collective impact of the RSB.
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