Photo: PhD student Sarah-Jane Lonsdale
Many staff and students are keen on sharing their interest in science with the public. Sarah-Jane Lonsdale has combined this interest while promoting the diversity of those studying and working in science.
“It was my gap year experience at the Royal Institution as a ‘Year in Industry’ student which was the main influence for my science communication and public engagement work.”
This experience led to her working with Pride in STEM, a charitable trust that works to promote and support those who identify as LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and other sexual and gender minorities) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers. Sarah has been active in promoting the first international day celebrating LGBTQ+ people in STEM earlier this year.
Sarah was also nominated for the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Medal and Prize in recognition of her contribution to physics and work to support and encourage others in the field.
Sarah is a postgraduate student within the Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics at the School of Physics and Astronomy, where she is investigating the neutron-induced destruction of Aluminium-26 in massive stars. She won a prestigious Principal’s Career Development Scholarship to pursue her studies at Edinburgh. Prior to this, she completed an MPhys research in Nuclear Astrophysics at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA.
