Rebecca Ballantyne

"I do think that the personality types fits me very well. I am definitely a coach as I try in all aspects of my life to encourage others to develop and to be the best they can be. I am also a good communicator both professionally and in my work to promote STEM subjects in school. I take a complex topic and break it down into a simpler form dependent on the audience's ability - this is exactly what I do when teaching and also within work. I am also an influencer given that I can determine who steers a group and who shapes ideas. Normally if I need to discuss a complex or perhaps a tricky subject, I will ensure that I engage and get a good level of understanding with the main parties. Some areas I work within involved new ways of working or business improvement so being an influencer is a very important skill when changing a culture within a business or creating change. "

"I am a Senior Analytical Technologist and Chartered Chemist working in the Nuclear Sector. I work as part of the Technical and Strategy team at the Analytical Services Laboratories based on the main Sellafield site in West Cumbria.My main roles are to support new instrument method development and to assist with instrument breakdown. I also produce strategic studies to help underpin decisions to ensure our projects and tasks align to our goals and mission which is ensure the safe site stewardship of Sellafield and reduce the risk associated with hazardous nuclear waste as quickly and as safely as possible. I enjoy my work as I get to work with and interact with all the technical teams throughout the site, we have a real sense of a technical community. I also enjoy the sense of reward that comes with achieving a goal or seeing a project through to completion. I do think I fit the personality quiz profile very well, I am very much a mentor/coach and also an influencer which stems from an ability to talk to anyone at any level within the business. I also enjoy breaking down complex issues which can help with problem solving and communication.I am a passionate promoter of STEM both in and out of work. In work I encourage my peers to continue developing and learning by seeking professional qualifications and accreditations (learning is a life long journey and shouldn't stop after school or uni!) I also mentor for our scientific degree apprentices."

"I had always loved to find out how things worked and I loved taking things a part as a child so I could understand this and then rebuild them.I enjoyed science at school and I always had good grades, although I found my teachers sometimes uninspiring and perhaps some topics were over complicated when being taught which is why I felt many of my friends felt science was \"too hard\" or perhaps it just didnt feel relevant to them? Some topics likely felt as though they needed to be learned about in order to pass a test or exam but then afterwards it was information that would probably never be needed again.Given that science is actually EVERYWHERE (from how your body got energy from your breakfast this morning, the clothes you put on, how you travelled to school and indeed how your school was actually built and the utilities that were supplied to it - water, electricity etc. I'd always struggled to understand why it was confined to a 2 hour class held twice a week?).I'd say my secondary school was an average school (not particularly good but not a bad school never the less). I didn't really have any teachers I found inspiring, looking back I can see they were overworked, underpaid with little support and they were just trying to make a living. I was popular at school and had a good circle of friends (I'm still good friends with most of them now!). I worked hard, ensured I asked questions if I was unsure and managed to leave school with 12 very good GCSEs.I stayed on at school to complete my A-Levels. I took Biology (human and plant) Maths and Business Studies.When it came to deciding what to do next, I really struggled with which direction to take. I loved genetics but I was conscious that I didn't want a degree to specialised as jobs could be difficult to find. I also really enjoyed the biochemistry in my biology lessons so I was really torn.In the end I decided to pursue a forensic science degree as it covered such a huge area and would allow me to learn about so many aspects of science.I studied for 2 years at a local smaller campus in Penrith, Cumbria which was part of the University of Central Lancashire. For my final year, I moved to the main campus in Preston. I LOVED the degree and I met some amazing people along the way who are now some of my dearest friends even though we are now spread out all over the country.It was during this degree that I met my first inspirational role model working in STEM. My Forensic Biology teacher was just so passionate about the subject the enthusiasm just emanated from her. Our lessons were fun and very interactive. There were no wrong answers and I never felt silly or stupid asking a question as I quickly realised if I wasn't sure on a topic or question you could be sure others felt the same!I excelled at Biology, Forensic Medicine, toxicology and Analytical Chemistry. I knew after graduation that I wanted to find a role that would allow me to focus on these areas."

"When I`m not working at Sellafield, I spend a lot of my time developing lesson plans and ideas for further teaching. I work with children from ages 3 to young adults at graduate level and everything in between! This includes children with learning or behavioural challenges I use my forensics background to develop sessions for primary and secondary aged children. My younger classes love my interactive story telling sessions which are based on Goldilocks and the three bears. I hide evidence in different scenes (fingerprints on bowls and spoons, hair and fiber evidence on broken chairs and beds and even some footprint comparison!) The children love it! At the end of the session the children get the opportunity to dust and lift their own fingerprints which they can take home.I also deliver sessions just for secondary aged girls who may feel as though science isn`t really relevant to them so I demonstrate that it is! I teach cosmetology (the science behind the beauty industry - yes it has a scientific field named after it!) we look at nail varnishes and hair dyes and the chemistry behind the techniques. We learn about colour chemistry and how light reflection and refraction are used in make up application. We also look at skin surface and more intrusive techniques such as botox and fillers. More importantly in this session we look at beauty through the ages and what pressures are put on women to look a \"certain way\" we discuss what real beauty actually means to use and how artificial the beauty industry can be but the fact its worth billions of pounds! Large companies pay handsome salaries for those scientists able to develop new techniques - its an expanding area with specific degrees ow offered at some universities.I also guest lecture in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Cumbria - teaching forensic science graduates all about the techniques used in toxicology and the chemistry behind quick field test kits.I won two highly commended awards in November 2019 for my work encouraging children to take STEM subjects at school and at uni. These were the STEM inspiration awards at the House of Lords and the Women of the Future Awards held at the Hilton Park Lane, London. In early 2020 I was placed on the Shaker list as one of the top 20 female scientists in the world! This was a huge achievement as I was listed with some absolutely amazing women!I`ve been in national journals, newspapers and even on TV several times discussing my work and encouraging other scientists and engineers to become more visible and to get out into schools to talk about our roles. Scientists are analytical and work methodically, we can become very fixated on our roles in the here and now and sometimes we need reminded that our work must continue after we have retired so its our job to get out there and talk about how exciting our work is!When I`m not working at Sellafield or in school, I`m also a wife and a mum - we have a beautiful 4 year old daughter."

"When I arrive at work I definitely need a cup of tea or coffee just to get me going as I have an early start and a long commute.I normally spend the first half an hour catching up on emails and organising my diary for that day (checking I have everything I need for my planned meetings - have I read all the documents I was supposed to, do I know when I need to be there an where my meetings are?) I have some large projects ongoing at the moment so I normally spend an hour or two working on these and checking I`m on target.I love catching up with old and new colleagues over lunch so I tend to plan my breaks in advance so I have time to see everyone. There are around 10,000 people that work on the Sellafield site so we have huge amount of disciplines and interesting people to network with.I am on hand to assist with any instrument breakdowns so I can be contacted at any time for help or advice but my afternoons tend to be taken up with meetings (sometimes to assist with my projects, other times to help others with their projects). I also mentor a group of scientific degree apprentices so I may have a catch up in the afternoon over a coffee to see how everything is going. I am also part of women in Nuclear which is a fantastic organisation set up to help address the gender equality issues we currently have (only 22% of our workforce is female). Here I have some great friendships and support for other peers and more senior female leaders - I often attend events after work designed to help me develop further and to build my confidence. I also have a mentor who I can talk to in confidence about any issues I`m having which is a great! Sometimes its fab to get a different perspective and it reminds me how important it is to talk to somebody if you are going through a hard time."

"I have 12 GCSEs grades A*-C, I studies Biology (plant and human as two separate A-levels) and Chemistry.I have a BSc HONS in Forensic Science with elective modules in Genetics, Toxicology and Analytical Chemistry.How on earth did you end up in Nuclear Chemistry I hear you say?!Well I began working for a pharmaceutical company after graduation and here I learned so much hands on experience working with the instrumentation. It was like being a little kid again, I was able to take things a part and build them back up again - I loved it! None of the equipment had any service contracts from the manufacturer so I was able to get stuck in when we had a failure or breakdown - this taught me more than I ever did at uni in terms of hands on experience. Unfortunately after 2 years I was made redundant as the whole site was set to close.I worked as an admin assistant in a car garage for a time but I was desperate to get back into science so when I saw the advert for Sellafield 6 months later I knew I had to go for it! I had my interview and was successful.I was able to apply all my previous knowledge and adapt it to working in a laboratory that handles radioactive substances. I began working in the labs that supported the safe operations of the plants on site so my knowledge of Sellafield grew as I understood more about the chemistry (Sellafield is just a giant chemistry set!) We process the spent nuclear waste (fuel) and make it safe and in some cases actually turn back into reusable fuel.I worked in the labs for 10 years, building my knowledge and seeking to learn from more senior members of the team. I worked hard and joined the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2014, before taking a career break to our daughter in 2015. After returning to work I really wanted to achieve chartered chemist status and I always remember being told that it would be extremely difficult to do as my pay grade wasn't high enough. If anything this made even more determined - what does pay grade have to do with it, I knew I was working at that level even if I maybe hadn't had the confidence to apply for any more senior roles. This made me even more determined to achieve this. The program to chartership takes 2 years and with the help of my fantastic mentor, I passed my chartered chemist assessment within 9 months of starting the process. I hadn't realised it at the time but completing my chartership had pushed me out of my comfort zone and had allowed to change and develop for the better. I felt ready for a step up in responsibility and that I was ready to move on from working in the labs. I applied for a senior role and was successful. I have continued to grow as a person over the last 12 months and I am currently preparing for my Chartered Scientist accreditation, I will be applying for Fellow next year (I will be one of the youngest female Fellows in the RSC if I am successful!)."