Question: What person inspired you to join the world or science, perhaps a famous scientist or a teacher?

Fern Johnson answered on 13 Jun 2019:

I don’t think any scientist did specifically, I didn’t learn about many specific scientists (especially female scientists, which is a shame) until I got older. I remember my physics teacher telling my parents on report evening that I had potential to have a career in science, I think I was about 14 and found it quite embarrassing, but he ended up being right. All my biology teachers were really good and inspired my love of the subject. One thing that I like about my school and later college is that they didn’t push you to do anything , like ‘you should only do science because you’re good at it’ or ‘girls should focus on English’ they let you focus on what you enjoyed.

I wasn’t sure about applying to do Biology at Oxford – no one I knew had ever gone there. One my teachers put me in touch with an older student who was finishing her degree there, and talking to her made me more confident that someone from my background (not rich, no family connections, living in Wales not Surrey) could do well there. Obviously you don’t have to go to Oxford or any particular university to have a career in science, but it was important for me.