Alumni Spotlight : Paige Tynan
Highly Commended Entrant in the Life Sciences category in 2020
June 29, 2022
Paige Tynan
Paige was a Highly Commended Entrant in the Life Sciences category in 2020.
Since she received her award, Paige has graduated with a first-class honors degree in Forensic Science. She is currently a PhD researcher specialising in forensic taphonomy, which is the study of what happens between the death and recovery of remains.
What are you doing now and what has happened since the award?
In March 2022, I started a new role at Wrexham Glyndwr University as a lecturer in Biosciences.
Since I was Highly Commended at the UA Awards, I have taught Forensic Science at Wrexham Glyndwr University and Human Biology at the University of Chester. I have also engaged in science communication primarily to underserved and underrepresented people in STEM through my role as a Community Science Communicator at Xplore! Science Discovery Centre in Wrexham.
Where do your interests lie?
My research interests lie within Forensic Taphonomy, more specifically the factors in which affect the rate of decay and the ways in which we can measure it!
Is there anything else you have achieved since the awards?
I was selected as a mentee in the first cohort of The Young Women in Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (YWNPD) Mentorship Scheme established by the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) and the International Affairs Institute (IAI).
Through my mentor and fellow mentees, I have been connected with powerful women from around the world who share my commitment to a peaceful future and human security.
I am also the President of the Leeds branch of the International Student/Young Pugwash – an organisation committed to using scientific expertise to inform the government and the public about issues relating to weapons of mass destruction, war and peace, the environment, and the social responsibility of scientists.
In this role, I have met the Shadow minister for Peace and Disarmament, Fabian Hamilton MP, and collaborated to organise events that raise awareness about Britain’s nuclear weapons programme.
I was also awarded a scholarship equal to the UKIR stipend to fund my MA in Political Communication and throughout this I have been working on a PhD proposal that navigates the relationship between nuclear weapons and popular culture, asking how representations of the bomb (re)produce narratives that sustain nuclear weapons.
For this research, I have already been invited to present at the University of Glasgow’s Future of Nuclear Disarmament workshop and the University of Leicester’s Technology and Peace conference.
What do you like the most about what you do?
My journey into university had a super rocky start. At high school I was told that I would not succeed in science. My confidence was knocked and at A Level I did not continue with science. I was then rejected from all 5 of my university choices. I impulsively changed the direction of what I wanted to study and entered Wrexham Glyndwr University through clearing, and it remains one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Due to my rollercoaster of a journey into university, my favourite part of what I do is to be able to support and encourage those students that were told they weren’t quite good enough or that they weren’t capable to flourish and thrive!
Have you done something fun/weird?
After my success at the Global Undergraduate Awards, the following year, I decided to enter the WorldSkills UK competition and took home the gold medal.
Students from all over the UK come together to compete in a number of different categories. I competed in the Forensic Science category. As part of the final of this competition 8 of the 962 competitors that applied came together to process simulated crime scenes. We got fully dressed up and collected lots of evidence! We even got to test our skills in lifting fingerprints and interpreting blood spatter from the scene.
Has receiving an award for your hard work helped?
Receiving recognition for my work really boosted my confidence and has made me step outside of my comfort zone massively. It also helped prove to myself that I am a good scientist and I can be successful in science!
Why should students submit their work?
If you are considering submitting your work to the UA Awards, I highly recommend doing so. I mean, it’s no extra work really; you’ve already written the essays!
Check out Paige’s website here.
