From physics PhD to quiz master
Dr Caitlin Fisher completed a PhD in optical physics and now finds herself masterminding the University's flagship National Science Week event, (Science + Quiz) = Comedy.
Dr Caitlin Fisher is drawing on her science knowledge and skills for an unconventional project. Photo by Jayne Ion.聽
Dr Caitlin Fisher is honing her science knowledge, tapping into her funny bone and building her event management mojo working behind-the-scenes in the production of the sold-out opening event for .
Fresh from a PhD, Dr Fisher has taken a somewhat unconventional turn for a physicist. She is currently masterminding the creative elements of , drawing on her knowledge, skills and interests.聽 聽
Caitlin鈥檚 doctoral research was in optical physics, studying light and its behaviour.
鈥淚 looked into how efficiently we could create a strange light-electron hybrid, called a surface plasmon polariton, using different lasers and different material surfaces. I did all my work through computer simulations and calculations.
鈥淭he aim was to make these phenomena very efficiently so they could be used to replace electrons in some computer circuits as the signal carrier, resulting in more information carried more quickly and with less power.鈥�
So how does a PhD student go from computer simulator to event coordinator?
I didn鈥檛 just restrict myself to my studies. I did a little bit of everything to broaden my scope and skills.
Caitlin in the sparkling limelight of (Science + Quiz) = Comedy before returning to her hard work behind the scenes. Photo by Jayne Ion.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 just restrict myself to my studies. I did a little bit of everything to broaden my scope and skills. I鈥檝e worked as a physics tutor, demonstrator, first year officer for the , mentor, ran school visits for the as part of the , and performed in the .
鈥淲hile I was doing my PhD, the most common question I was asked was 鈥渨hat are you going to do when you鈥檝e finished?鈥� My response was always the same 鈥� 鈥渟top asking!鈥�
鈥淏ut when I submitted my thesis, I really didn't know what I wanted to do next. I knew it wasn't going to be more research, but I knew it could be data analysis or education as I've always loved explaining things.鈥�
Through connections, questions and recommendations, Caitlin started working in the Partner Engagement and Outreach team in the .
鈥淢y science background has provided me with the skills to perform data analysis for reports, offer support to academics to prepare public talks on their work, and deliver genuine insights about scientific research to university and high school students at our outreach events.
鈥淢y singing and performing experience from amateur musical productions, along with my science knowledge has prepared me for my biggest project at work yet 鈥� producing this National Science Week event.
(Science + Quiz) = Comedy kicks off the , bringing together two teams of the University of Sydney鈥檚 brightest science brains to battle it out with their quirkiest facts, most absurd analogies and funniest antics for a spectacular science quiz show.聽 聽
鈥淩eal-life researchers, academics and communicators from the disciplines of psychology to veterinary science, from mathematics to chemistry, from robotics to reptiles will make up our panel for the quiz,鈥� said Caitlin.
鈥淭hink pub trivia with less pub, more science. Lots of science. More science than base pairs in a strand of DNA. More science than carbon atoms in a mole of buckyballs.鈥�
This sold-out event will be hosted by ever-witty Adam Spencer, with teams receiving exceptional scientific support from energetic brains trust, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. 聽
Caitlin has dug deep into her life鈥檚 collection of scientific learnings, knowledge of new discoveries of our time and dinner party-worthy fun facts to come up with some killer questions to make, or break, our brainy guests. And there are bound to be some physics questions to draw from Caitlin鈥檚 area of expertise.
鈥淚 feel really lucky that my work, particularly my work on this project, combines my interests, knowledge and skills.
鈥淢y advice for students approaching job seeking is to look at your skills, not just your knowledge, and see how they can apply to completely different jobs that you might like to try. And ask everyone you know for job connections and hints - connections are very important!鈥�
Teaser questions
To connect those who have missed out on securing a highly sought-after quiz ticket, Caitlin has provided some brain-breaking questions for home trivia:
- What do bananas and Star Wars episode II have in common?
- Why would you want to splice salmon DNA with a strawberry?
- What does vegemite, Korsakoff鈥檚 syndrome and homemade glow-in-the-dark drinking water have in common?
- How many tennis balls could you fit in the sun?
- Name 100 things you shouldn鈥檛 put in a microwave.
Researchers from the University of Sydney are involved in a range of public events for this year鈥檚 Sydney Science Festival running from 8 to 20 August. See the University is involved with and join us for a public talk or a workshop to get a taste of the latest and greatest science.