KLASSics Inspires We have continued to innovate throughout our history, innovating in our learning spaces and innovating in our teaching, but most importantly innovating for our students’ success. This section of our chronicle showcases the future leaders who are paving the way for a greater tomorrow with their impact socially, economically and politically. 75 great years with the School always encouraged the innovators with each of their students. We interviewed a few alumni that are making waves in their fields.
Dr. Natasha Chapplow KLASS 2002 - 2012
Twel ve ye ar s at The A lice Smith School and now a Marine G eo s c i e n t i st . S he ha s he r experience and her journey of studying physics behind the ocean. What do you do for a living? I’m a Marine Geologist, which means I spend a lot of time conducting scientific research and then explaining my results to others. Currently, I study the Physics behind the ocean, for example waves and currents (i.e. marine), and how these processes can be related to land features such as canyons and rivers (i.e. geology). Large underwater avalanches called turbidity currents can travel from the coast to the deep ocean, and in the process sculpt underwater canyon systems - the Grand Canyon formed this way. Until recently we knew very little about underwater avalanches because they typically destroy measurement equipment placed in their pathway. The scientific research project that I am a part of has successfully captured some of the first ever measurements of these events in the oceans.
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Oh that’s really something isn’t it. Well done! You are making history. Not only are you making an impact in physics, you are also doing your part for the community! Tell us more about your recent volunteerism work with the Ukrainian refugees. I’ve become quite proficient in first response care from volunteering with St. Johns Ambulance alongside my PhD. Over the past 2 years I’ve actually spent more time in hospitals than anywhere else. I was fortunate enough to work with an incredible NHS team that managed to vaccinate more people than any other site in the UK. When the war broke out I had just finished my PhD a few days before. My sister had contacts in Poland that had organised our transport to key sites where there was a mass influx of refugees (train stations and refugee centres). I initially went with the intention to offer support to my sister’s work, handing out food and warm drinks to people. But while working at these sites there were many occasions where medical responders were called for. Commonly, there were either not enough, and at certain sites I was the only responder present, especially within the first 2 weeks. To summarise, I quickly began my own work at the Polish border assisting in the medical bays. I’ve worked alongside the Polish military, Polish red cross, and the Ukrainian red cross, when I began to travel directly into Ukraine to provide support in their field hospitals. Thank you for doing all that you do! What’s the biggest factor that has helped you be successful? Hmm that depends on what type of success we’re talking about. I’ll assume that success here refers to making a meaningful impact in some way, as I believe this is most important. In my case I’d say my ability to make time to learn different skills is a large factor in my success, since I am exposed to very different situations day to day. Importantly, these situations are not always related to my career and there are many times when I have little to no relevant knowledge as my starting point – I really enjoy when this is the case. Making myself uncomfortable
by purposely doing things I know very little about I believe is the way I will learn how to make a real difference, and this is how I define my own success. All success comes with many failures along the way. What mistakes have you made along the way? All credit goes to my mentors here for expertly guiding me, such that I avoided making mistakes in the first place – the sign of any good mentor! So that means the other side to this question is how have I avoided making mistakes along the way? I’ve sought to work with people whom I could trust would not let their own agendas compromise my own career path. I think sometimes people forget that choosing a mentor is a decision for both parties (mentor and mentee) to make. I was prepared to turn down a PhD offer if I didn’t feel that there was a strong mutual trust between my mentors and myself. What was the hardest decision you ever had to make? The one I am about to make next since I’m currently looking for a new job. I’m looking to transition from academia into industry. But selling how I can bring value outside of my own field is difficult, despite that I’m able to handle a wide range of scientific information from multiple different fields within Earth Sciences. Hiring managers do not always want to take the time to understand how multidisciplinary knowledge can bring value, therefore they tend to go with candidates that present more clearly as a box that they can then tick. Who can blame them when it’s easier to hire someone that knows or has previously done exactly what they are looking for. But I argue that businesses cannot expect to deliver truly innovative solutions if they are unwilling to hire people who have high levels of knowledge in other disciplines, and also the skills required to make their knowledge relevant to the needs of a particular business. I believe that there are companies who also share this sentiment, and that I’ll be able to demonstrate my value when the right opportunity arises. Otherwise, I’m sure there will be some even harder decisions on the way!
