Sophie Duncan’s
autobiography can be read here or
printed out.
Sophie Duncan is a
program manager at Science Year,
a government initiative to promote
science to young people, their parents
and carers.
"I have always
been interested in science and engineering,
although I had a passion to be an
actress too. With this in mind I
found it really difficult to decide
which A levels to do. In the end
I chose Physics, Maths and Chemistry
and went on to study Physics at
Birmingham University. I really
enjoyed myself, and found a real
satisfaction in finding solutions
to problems, and learning more about
science and technology. I enjoyed
it so much I decided that I wanted
to pursue research, and ended up
exploring Proton Induced X-Ray Emission.
The problem was that I loved explaining
my research to people, but I did
not enjoy doing it. In the end I
decided that science communication
made better use of my skills and
I started work at the Science Museum
in London.
I had a wide variety
of jobs at the museum, from looking
after collections of objects, managing
touring exhibitions, planning major
new galleries, and running events
for different audiences – you
name it, I did it. It was fantastic
and really rewarding. I had found
just the kind of work that suited
my desire to communicate and enthuse
people with science, and made use
of some of my theatrical skills
too.
When I heard about
Science Year I was really excited
that it could engage young people
with science, and I decided that
I wanted to be involved. I got a
job as a program manager and now
run a third of Science Year programs.
A major part of my work has been
managing the touring components
of Science Year, although I have
also been involved in a large number
of other programs, including a book
of experiments for KS2 and Lab Days
– an initiative to open laboratories
to the public."
You can email Sophie
during the Science Year Only connect?
theme at the Science Year website.
All the answers Sophie sends out
will be shown on the website at
www.scienceyear.com/chalkface/index.html,
so check there first to see if she’s
already answered your question.
Her email address is at the bottom
of that page.
You can print out
the earliest FAQs here.
