Freya I. Addison

What have you been doing since finishing your studies? 

I went straight from my Masters into the NERC DTP PhD programme. I study geodesy, the size and shape of the earth, to improve the precision of measurements made between ground-based her radar and airborne platforms.

I am studying my PhD at the University of Leeds, with my scholarship is funded by NERC. I am developing a coding package to improve precision between multi-instrument campaigns. I spend quite a bit of my time coding, as I am in my final year, my writing time has now increased, previously I have spent a fair few weeks away on various fieldwork campaigns.
 

What experiences at Leeds do you think have particularly helped with your career?

Feedback from modules was really helpful, particular when it came to writing. My MRes experience generally re-established some confidence in my abilities. The MRes Arran Course, gave me a crash course into atmospheric science, as well as a unique bonding experience with my cohort, similar to fieldwork campaigns. 

Why did you choose to study your particular course and why did you choose the University of Leeds?

It was advised to do the course at the University of Leeds to fill in the gaps between astrophysics and atmospheric science before going into a PhD.
 

What was the best aspect of your course?

Working on a research project for my dissertation.

What activities outside of your studies were you involved in?

During my time at Leeds I have been involved in outreach activities. I went out to schools to give demos, and I ran a Discovering Geography workshop on campus, as well as Weather and Water during the Leeds Festival of Science.

We also joined the BBC's Terrific Scientific tent at the Great Yorkshire Show to do a volcano demo and a tornado in a bottle experiment, some of these demos we used at these events we recorded last year. 

In the first few years of my PhD I was an Educational Outreach Fellow and I set up a STEM after school club for KS3 students, which was eventually rolled out to 3 schools. PhD students and Post-docs developed sessions which would be student-led, on either their research topic, or just a fun science topic they were interested in, which was hands-on. These were taken into the schools, and put on as a club which would set the groundwork for CREST Awards and EPQs, as well as giving the students to have fun and explore science outside the restraints of the curriculum.

Outreach can be a lot of fun, and is a good way to test and improve your knowledge on a subject, as well as being really important in opening up access to STEM careers for pupils. 

I also took part in Pint of Science during my time at Leeds.
 

What would you say to students thinking about studying your course?

Jump right in! Take the time to pick what research area/lab group you are most interested in and enjoy it.