Eoin Lettice - Plant Scientist

What were the main ‘career decision’ milestones in your life so far?

I was always interested in science and never pictured myself doing anything else after secondary school. My undergraduate course started out very broadly based for the first two years and then I focused on plant science in the final years.

I always consider myself very lucky in my career – that I met the right people at the right time and made the right decision regarding subjects to take and projects to do. There is a bit of “going with the flow” involved but the flow hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

I was lucky to have spent the summer before my final undergraduate year working in a plant breeding programme at the University of Alberta, Canada. This gave me a taste for research and convinced me that I wanted to do further study after my degree.

In my final year, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to work with my future PhD supervisor who encouraged me to apply for funding under the IRCSET initiative, and this turned out to be very successful.

Towards the end of my PhD, I got involved in a small way in lecturing which eventually led to the job I have now as a lecturer in plant science.

Who are the people who most influenced your career direction?

I have the type of parents who would have supported me no matter what I wanted to do for a living. I am indebted to them and the rest of my family for their support.

Throughout my secondary schooling, I was taught science for Junior Cert and subsequently physics and biology for Leaving Cert by the same teacher. There’s no doubt he made a big impact and always tried to make it as interesting as possible. I suppose he may have been pushing an open door with me, but I caught the science bug.

As I’ve said, my PhD supervisor has been a huge influence on me, always willing to guide me in the right direction career wise.

Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?

An academic career gives a certain amount of flexibility which I think suits me. Of course you’re constantly bound by timetables – lectures, practical classes, exams – but at the same time there is freedom in the schedule to pursue your own research interests, to write up reports and papers.

During the academic year, it can get hectic enough and it helps if you have sufficient organisational skills to keep track of all the paperwork, continuous assessment and practical reports that come your way. Proper time management is essential and something that you learn
as you progress through college anyway.

While academic timetables are pretty immovable objects, there is usually some scope, especially in the summer months, for flexibility as regards taking time off to travel and to enjoy the finer things in life.

What are the main tasks and responsibilities?

My job is to teach. That’s what I’m paid to do and that is what I focus on. Along with that comes all the paperwork, correcting and organising which is required.

The department prides itself on the ‘student experience’ which we offer our students, so we try to look out for them as best we can; help them with any problems which they might have which is affecting their work.

What are the main challenges?

Lecturing tends to keep you on your toes. There is little room for not knowing your stuff and it is a challenge to remain as up to date as possible with the areas you lecture in.

Students quickly see through someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about.

What’s cool?

Teaching at any level (primary, secondary or tertiary) is cool. There is a buzz that comes from delivering a good lecture or class and knowing that the students have learned something concrete that they can take out into the world with them.

I’m lucky in that I can continue my own scientific research and sometimes incorporate that into my teaching.

What’s not so cool?

Correcting 80 or so essays on the same topic on a sunny bank holiday weekend, but it’s part of the job so I would never complain about it.

What particular skills do you bring to your workplace?

It helps if you can speak well to a large (or small) group. It’s a skill that generally gets better the more you do it.

The ability to explain complex topics in a relatively easy to understand format is important. But it is also important not to ‘dumb down’ the tough stuff. I’ve found it’s important to be approachable, so that students don’t mind asking for help is they need it.

Organisational skills are important, yet some of the best and brightest of my colleagues seem to lack any sort of organisational skills – if the state of their desks is anything to go by!

What is your education to date?

I studied science for Junior Cert, then biology and physics for Leaving Cert. I didn’t enjoy chemistry and still don’t to this day!

Degree: Started in biological chemical sciences, UCC; focused on plant science and graduated in 2002 with a BSc Plant and Microbial Biotechnology.

PhD: Biocontrol of Potato Cyst Nematodes, UCC.

What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?

My degree covered a variety of topics in the plant science and microbiology areas. It also involved courses in biotechnology which all proved very important to my PhD research. I’ve now ended up teaching some of the modules I took back in my undergraduate days.

What personal qualities do you have that helps you in your career?

Patience, perseverance, good humour, friendliness and approachability.

What is your dream job?

Does superhero count as a job?

What advice would you give to someone considering this job?

If you’re interested in lecturing or teaching in general, experience is the key. You’ve got to seek it out. Volunteer for science open days and go to Science Week events. Find out if your local museums, science centres or primary schools need volunteers.

Participate in the Young Scientist exhibitions and try and get some experience of public speaking – it doesn’t matter what you speak about!

For those interested in science in general, choose a few science subjects for the Leaving Cert and focus on the lab work as well as the book work.

What were the main ‘career decision’ milestones in your life so far?

Karen Bacon - Studying for a multidisciplinary PhD in palaeobotany

The first was when I decided to study science instead of history (my other real interest) in college.

The second was when I decided to leave geology and return to botany for my honours degree. I decided that I wanted to be more involved in biology rather than basing my future career entirely on geology.

The third major career decision was when I decided to leave my job as an abstractor with HW Wilson and return to UCD to study for a PhD in palaeobotany (the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts).

Who most influenced your career direction?

I’m not too sure about that. I had a really good science teacher for my Junior Cert and then I had some fantastic lecturers in UCD. My family has always been very supportive too.

Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?

Well, right now I am doing my PhD, so a lot of my time is spent working, but I really enjoy what I’m doing and I have been lucky getting to travel to conferences and other colleges for research experience, so I don’t mind the packed schedule.

Describe a typical day

As a PhD student, I do not really have a typical day.

In term, I spend a two afternoons a week demonstrating to undergraduates in laboratory classes. The rest of my time is split between reading and working in the lab.

Out of term, I spend most of my time trying to do as much lab work and reading as possible.

What are the main tasks and responsibilities?

My main role is research, but I also demonstrate to undergraduates and am responsible for grading laboratory sessions for my groups of students.

What are the main challenges?

Managing my time between lab work, reading, demonstrating and commuting can be difficult but gets easier with practice.

What’s cool?

Working with fossil plants that lived over 200 million years ago.

What particular skills do you bring to your workplace?

My joint background in botany and geology helped me to switch between disciplines and to think about the broader significance of palaeobotany. I developed both lab and field skills in my degrees and it’s great to be able to put these skills into practice.

What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?

My best subjects in school were English, history and biology. Apart from the compulsory subjects, I took biology, chemistry, history and German for the Leaving Certificate.

I didn’t like chemistry at all, but it was useful to have a background understanding of chemistry for studying biology and geology later in college.

I enjoyed biology at school but I don’t think that the course, as it was when I sat my Leaving Certificate, really helped prepare me for college-level science.

Having the two science subjects was certainly helpful for studying science in college and I also found that the essay writing involved in history and English was very helpful because science did involve a lot of writing in the later years of my degree.

What is your education to date?

I did my Leaving Certificate in 2000. I graduated with a general degree in geology in 2003 from UCD and with a first class honours degree in botany in 2005 from UCD.

I began my PhD in UCD in October 2007.

What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?

My joint background in geology and botany has provided me with a broad range of knowledge that has been very helpful in beginning a PhD in palaeobotany.

My science degree also included maths, physics and zoology and I think that this general science background provided me with a good understanding of how different areas of science are important to each other.

I think that paleontology and evolution were the two most relevant subject areas that I studied during my degrees for the area that I am currently working in, although I also really enjoyed mycology and anything related to ecology.

What have been the most rewarding events in your career so far?

Getting my first in botany and deciding to go back to academia to pursue a PhD.

What personal qualities do you have that helps you in your career?

Enthusiasm and passion for my subject area.

What is your dream job?

Anything that involves travel and working outdoors, particularly anything that involved mountain climbing.

What advice would you give to someone considering this job?

You need to be passionate about the science that you are considering as a career.

If you don’t love what you are doing and if you don’t like the lab or the field, then a PhD in science will not be enjoyable.

What are the three most important personal characteristics required for the job?

Love of the subject, persistence, patience.

What kinds of work experience would provide a good background for this position?

Summer work in college laboratories in the early stages of a science degree can really help you decide if research is something you would like to do for a career.

I did two summer bursaries during my time as an undergraduate, and both gave me a feel for actually doing science and really encouraged me to want to do a PhD.