Jane Evans

"Who am I? Well for a start, I am someone who hates questions like this. I panic when I am asked to provide 2000 words on something; my brains turns to cheese. I would much rather meet someone face to face and talk about what I do. I love solving problems related to the environment; geology and archaeology problems. Like, how old is that rock? Where did that person travel from 6000 years ago? How did the change in that river affect travel in the past? What caused the river to change course? My job involves working with students teaching them how to apply analytical methods to the problems they have. Students come to our labs in Nottingham for a few months during their degrees/PhD, and lean to use the machines, to understand how we monitor and maintain the laboratory quality standards and they learn how to use and interpret the data they generate. Every day is different. I am always excited to see what comes in with the morning e-mail. Can we tell if a bird found in Norway was an illegal captive or a wild migrant blown off course? Would it be possible to work out what rather diet a person living in Romans times ate? I think I fit well with my profile of explorer/innovator/investigator. 219 words – I’m not a descriptive writer. "

"My current post involves training students, undertaking commercial archaeology projects, writing scientific papers and grants, given talks at academic and public events."

"I was always interested in geology and the first main influence on my life was my father who always supported my career choices. I had a wonderful geology teacher at GCSE (O-levels). As I progressed though university my PhD supervisor was a great encouragement and made me think beyond the laboratory and always made me to put my results into a wider picture. I got a job as a laboratory assistant at the British Geological Survey and I have worked my way up the system since then. "

"I keep bees, race kayaks and walk my dogs."

"Typical day: into office and grab cup of tea. Open emails and see what new projects might come in. Main part of the day often involves working with students in the chemistry laboratory, or on the mass spectrometer, or talking about their results. I tend to wind up maybe writing a bit of a paper/grant/talk"

"A- level Biology, Chemistry and Maths.BSc Geology, LondonMSc Geochemistry OxfordPhD London.I did my PhD part time while working at the British Geological Survey. Visiting Professor, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, Leicester University Honorary Professor Department of Archaeology, Nottingham University"