Erin joined UCL in 2017 to take up her role with i-sense, which is an EPSRC funded Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration working to develop tools and technologies to track, test and treat infectious diseases. Before that, she worked at the Cancer Institute NSW in Sydney, Australia. She studied Communications as an undergraduate, having always held an interest in health communications.
Originally from Australia, Erin spent the first eighteen years of her life in Asia, between Singapore and Hong Kong. She moved to Brisbane to study at the University of Queensland, leaving for Sydney after graduation - “Brisbane was way too laid back for me - the shops closed at 4pm!”. Upon securing her job at UCL she left the glorious sunshine and beaches of Australia for London, a place that now feels like home.
"There's lots to like about the UK - blackberry season (and elderflowers, and wild garlic, and sloe berries!), really long summer days, countryside walks, cosy pubs, wild swimming, theatre, music...UCL is a really exciting and diverse place to be and I’m very lucky to work with such talented and lovely people. We have a really great team at i-sense too, not just at UCL, but across universities throughout the UK. I’ve also really enjoyed the access to museums and the Institute of Making!
This year, one of Erin’s projects has been the recently started i-sense Q&A series. You can listen to past conversations on the i-sense website, or join upcoming events, which are open to everyone - you can find the link at the bottom of this article.
"I've really enjoyed the Q&A series. It's given me the opportunity to speak to really interesting people across the field of infectious diseases who have been really generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise. I've learnt a lot and we've had some really interesting chats!"
She’s also looking to begin a short podcast series in the New Year with PhD students from i-sense, details of which will appear in a future edition of Faculty Focus.
Finally, outside of work, Erin’s interests include walking (with a plan to walk the entire Capital Ring), pottery, sewing, yoga, drawing, crosswords and camping. She recently moved to North London and has spent a lot of this summer at Hackney Marshes and Walthamstow Wetlands, and has recently taken up fermenting and reading folk lore.
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