Profile

Well, I am a chemist by training; my first degree is in Molecular Science. I am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a very proud Associate Member of The Royal Society of Chemistry (I get to use the letters AMRSC, FRAS after my name…which I think is quite cool!) and I am a registered STEM Ambassador which means I can go to schools, colleges and universities all over the country to enthuse pupils, students and teachers all about science. I have to say…it’s one of the best things in the world to be able to share my knowledge with you all. I am so, so lucky to have that privilege and the ability to do it!

Essentially, I am developing a fluorescent compound that will interact or react with organic compounds in meteorites so I can see where and what they are and their concentration.

Life on Earth is made up of molecules that contain carbon; these are known as ‘organic compounds’. The study of the reactions that form them and the reactions they undergo is called ‘organic chemistry’. These compounds are found all over the planet but we have also found them in meteorites; fragments of asteroids that have fallen to Earth. Some of these compounds are not found on Earth and some are; either way, they formed in space…they are of extra-terrestrial origin. These ‘building blocks of life’ include amino acids, carboxylic acids and nucleobases which are, themselves, products of reactions between simple organic compounds.

It is thought that simple organic compounds are formed on the surfaces of tiny dust grains in interstellar space by the reaction of gases and ices. Such grains and the organic compounds they carry could have been incorporated into our solar system when it formed 4.65 billion years ago. This is how it is thought the correct chemistry for the development of life came to exist on our planet. An alternative theory is that simple organic compounds formed within asteroids after the solar system formed and so are therefore found in meteorites. No one knows for sure…in fact both theories could be correct.

Organic compounds in meteorites have been carefully studied for the past 70 years but all the techniques have been destructive; the tests destroy the meteorite so we lose any information about how the organic compounds formed in relation to the grains on which they were produced. The purpose of my research is to try and locate the organic compounds without destroying the meteorite sample.

Some molecules and particles emit light of a different colour (wavelength) than the light they absorbed. This is called fluorescence. The fluorescent particles absorb UV light and emit visible light; this is the same way in which UV paint and pigments work under a UV lamp. That is basically how my fluorescent sensor will work. I will shine UV light onto the sample that has been treated with the sensor and wherever the sensor has reacted or adhered to the organic compounds then that area will ‘glow’.

What’s the point? Well, in a nutshell, it will help us understand how and why organic molecules formed and, ultimately, help piece together the origins of life on Earth and throughout the universe.

A the moment my day consists of;

9 am – Check emails, reply to any or take any action I need to. Once that is done I read, take notes, cross reference and search online for referenced papers. I also search online for any words or terms I don’t know or need reminding of. I also drink an awful lot of tea, listen to music, chat about science and sometimes do silly things like watch cats falling off things on youtube.

12.30 pm – Lunch

1.30pm – Repeat the above

6.00pm – go home

Although this sounds boring…it really isn’t. Being a scientist is a frame of mind and a way of thinking about the world around us as well as a job. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE it!!

The typical day changes depending on the point at which you are in your research. For example, a few months previously I had been trying to make a really big complicated molecule in the lab but it hadn’t worked…I had tried a number of changes to the experimental process to see if I could get it to work but it didn’t. That’s part of the fun…you come up with an idea, test it, make changes to see if it can be made better…if not that’s cool too…it just means you go away and think of another way to do what you want to do!

Later on in the year I will be working a lot in the lab making molecules and mixing them with other chemicals that are found in meteorites, putting them through a fluorimeter and measuring their fluorescence. Hopefully there will be changes in the fluorescence which will tell me there is an interaction and, hey presto, I have an indicator!

The point is…NO DAY IS TYPICAL!!