UCL FACULTY OF LIFE SCIENCES

Quite early on as an undergraduate at UCL I switched to Genetics from Human Genetics because I became interested in broader aspects of the subject. As a result I got to chase snails on a field course in Spain. I was also lucky enough to be awarded a Nuffield Undergraduate Bursary that saw me spending one summer extracting DNA from various organisms to see if they shared Y-chromosome markers with humans. However, after three years of becoming increasingly specialised, and having fulfilled my dream of extracting DNA (several times over!), I realised that my days in the laboratory were numbered.

Notwithstanding my decision to move away from academia, the knowledge, skills and experience I gained whilst there means UCL had a large part to play in my current satisfaction. After my degree I spent a year working as a Sabbatical Officer in the Students' Union. I then left London for a short time, returning to work for the Advertising Standards Authority, right next door to UCL! During that time I saw the police service as a viable career path and have never looked back.

My connection with UCL continues, initially as an elected member, and then as vice-president of the UCL Friends’ Trust. In 2009 I started post-graduate study at UCL in the Department of Security and Crime Science and have once again been elected into the Students’ Union, this time as Part-Time Students’ Officer.


2000-2003: Advertising Standards Authority. Investigating complaints about advertisements and giving advice on acceptability of advertising copy before publication.

1999-2000: Acorn Growth Ltd. General Manager: administrator of tax and business advisory service.

1998-1999: UCL Students' Union. Communications Officer.

1995-1998: BSc (Genetics) UCL.

1994-1995 (and summer 1996): Pfizer Central Research. Assistant Data Manager collecting and checking clinical trial data.

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