Anastasia Doronina

"Personality type: Coordinator.My current role as a PhD researcher involves working with many different partners within academia and the water industry. This means that I have to be extremely organised, able to talk to different audiences, delegate tasks, and maintain strict deadlines. In a nut shell, I am a project manager, the responsibility of which I haven't found too difficult as I am naturally more of a team leader. Personality type: Influencer.I am a strong believer of sharing your personal experiences and lessons in order to help others. For instance, throughout the course of my PhD, I have been writing weekly blog posts describing my journey and doing my best to provide useful information to help others also embarking, or planning to embark on, a similar journey. Additionally, within my current role, I have to be able to share my research in a way that interests and influences others to take action on the subject at hand. Personality type: Trainer.I'll be honest, this one surprised me. I have never been one for wanting to teach or train anybody, yet I regularly end up in such roles and get good feedback on my teaching skills, so I must be doing something right... "

"At present, I am a final year PhD researcher in Civil & Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield, with a focus on the water industry. My work focuses on a first time extensive assessment of drinking water storage tank performance and its impact on water quality in distribution systems, with the aim to optimise network performance by utilising these overlooked assets to their full potential.Although I currently work as an engineer, my background is in Biology, and I have an MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (distinction) and a BSc in Biology (2:1) from Queen Mary, University of London. I am passionate about shining a light on the exciting opportunities in choosing a STEM career and try my best to inspire young people to do so, especially young women and those from less fortunate backgrounds. "

"Since I was little, I really enjoyed anything Biology-related, a passion that remained strong through primary and secondary school. In secondary school, I loved Biology more than any other subject and decided to pursue a degree in Biology after leaving sixth form. However, I did not get the A level result I needed (ironically, in Biology) to get into the university I wanted to go to (Queen Mary, University of London). Instead of settling for a different university, I took a year out to go back to college and re do my Biology A-level, and eventually got in! 4 years on, I left the university with a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary biology! I loved learning about our environment and the wildlife encompassing it, and was especially passionate about its conservation. I knew I wanted to pursue academia further, but decided to finally leave London to do so (mainly because I ran out of money and London is very expensive). Despite having a part-time job throughout my studies, which could have become a permanent position, I wasn't willing to settle. An opportunity arose to live with someone in Coventry, and I ended up moving there. The following 6 months were fairly bleak; I had no money, no job, no idea what to do or where to go. I kept applying for conservation-related PhDs, getting to interview stages, but never being appropriate enough for the job. For a little while, I worked in Claire's Accessories, which I really did not enjoy, but it paid the bills. Eventually, an opportunity came up to work for a water company called Severn Trent and it changed everything. I ended up falling in love with the water industry and applied for a PhD in the sector, which I was successful for! I was sad to leave my passion of working with nature behind, but working within the water industry has actually given me more opportunities to connect with nature than I could ever imagine. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I'd like to think that my current career path is a reflection of that."

"As previously mentioned in the 'how did I get here?' section, I love nature and so spend a lot of my time outdoors. I also spend a lot of time engaging in some kind of physical activity (swimming is a favourite) because I find exercise to be a great release of stress and endorphins!Despite being quite active, I am actually more of an introvert than an extrovert and enjoy time alone reading, cross stitching, or cooking/baking!"

"A PhD is a degree awarded to someone who has produced a novel, rigorous, and impactful piece of detailed research on a specific topic and is arguably one of the hardest degrees out there. It is hard to describe a typical day of a PhD student as each PhD project is extremely unique. Personally, before the covid pandemic, I spent a lot of time travelling for data collection and networking events, although I did also spend time in the office. However, due to my final year requirements, and with the restrictions of the pandemic, I have been working from home doing a lot of data analysis, writing, and reading. My emails are also always open, which I think is the case with most modern day jobs. "

"BSC in Biology (2:1)MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (distinction)"