Katie Watkinson

"As a geologist with the British Geological Survey (BGS), I work in a unique working environment, moving between science research and working on projects for outside clients. The personality types describe me well, especially the 'Coach' personality type. At the BGS, we work with a huge range of people on different projects, so being able to communicate with them, and make sure everything runs smoothly is very important. Because geology focuses on things that are millions of years old, we can't watch the whole process easily, the way you can watch an experiment in chemistry for example. This means our understanding is constantly changing, and really lets you come up with your own solutions to problems through thinking about the problem creatively. Trying to imagine a process that created a billion year old rock certainly requires creativity! I love using my ability to solve problems in my job, it's really satisfying.Having qualities such as being compassionate, a good listener and being trustworthy means I can work well as a team, and independently which is good for any job, and means I work well with any team."

"Working as a geologist with the BGS means that my main role is contributing my geological knowledge to a wide variety of projects. At the moment, I spend most of my time mapping the geology of parts of the UK, using fieldwork and aerial photographs. This is to improve the BGS' geological maps, so other people and companies have up-to-date data to use in their projects. I have worked with companies that come to the BGS for our specific knowledge about different locations and rock types. I also spend time answering emails from the public who ask us questions about geology. Almost all my work involves fieldwork, which is usually hiking around a beautiful and sometimes remote part of the country, writing down what I see, and deciding on the story of how the landscape came to be the way it is. This is probably my favourite part of the job, as similar roles in different companies don't let you do so much fieldwork! The starting salary for my role varies, but I would say around £25k."

"I decided I wanted to be a geologist when I was about 15. I grew up in the Peak District, which has quite a striking landscape, and one day I started to ask why it was like that. Geography answered that question to a point, but luckily I had a geography teacher that had an understanding of geology, so could explain the influence that rocks had on the landscape. They told me to try and find a sixth form that did geology as an a-level subject, and luckily there was a school close to me that did. I did Geology, Chemistry and Maths for my A-levels, and went to the University of Leeds to study Geological Sciences. Whilst at university, I worked as a Research Assistant in a laboratory, where I got to know some lab procedures, and do lots of fun chemistry in the context of geology. When I graduated, I got a job as a Geospatial Analyst, where I created maps using satellite imagery. This helped me bring new skills to my current job. I then moved on from that role to my current job.My mum is probably one of the bigger inspirations for doing both science, but also geology. She is a chemist, and was lucky enough to work with other female scientists, so when she talked about her work in a gold-testing lab, for me there was never any question that a woman could be scientist. To be able to grow up, and know that you can do anything, never question that you could be scientist because I was girl is incredibly unique, and I must thank her for that. But when I started asking her questions about what she wanted to be when she grew up, there was a time in her life when she wanted to be a geologist. However, back then it was very difficult for women to become geologists, some people in her life made it very clear to her that she couldn't succeed at it, and so she settled for chemistry. When I heard this, I kind of wanted to prove those people wrong."

"In my spare time, I enjoy going walking and rock climbing. I also draw illustrations and paint, as well as bake fancy cakes for people. I think it's important to show that you can have that really creative side, as well as being a scientist, as I feel a lot of people think you can only be one or the other. "

"My typical day at work varies hugely. For the most part, I am at my computer, working on my mapping from aerial photographs, or answering emails about projects. We have a lot of control over what we spend our time doing, and managing our time between projects. You can be working on lots of projects at the same time, so I could be in meetings for a couple of hours, then have a catch-up with someone about what I've been doing on another project, then answer a public enquiry. I also work on writing reports and academic papers. On the other hand, I could be spending weeks in the field. For example, my current project involved a lot of desk work to gather as much data about a mapping area, before I went on fieldwork. I worked out where we expected certain things to be, and so when we got into the field, we could use that time effectively. A typical day in the field would be driving out the field area from the accommodation with all my kit, then talking to landowners to get permission to access their land. I then walk along over that land, looking for features such as rock showing through the soil, rises in the landscape, and basically trying to read the landscape, whilst recording it. In the recent project, I was checking what I had found in the deskwork against what I was observing in the field. This matched up pretty well, which meant I could cover the ground, and meant we could deliver the new mapping. "

"A-levels - Geology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics (AS)Undergraduate Degree - BSc (Hons) Geological Sciences at the University of Leeds "