Profile

I am a PhD researcher, studying the magnetic field of Saturn. I live in North London with my girlfriend. I love sports – I play football, tennis and go running. I am a big Arsenal fan. My favourite cuisine is Thai food. I am an expert in seasons 4-12 of The Simpsons. I like going out to listen to music

I research the magnetic field of Saturn using data from the NASA Cassini mission that orbited Saturn for 13 years. The mission finished by sending the spacecraft into the atmosphere of Saturn, which eventually caused the spacecraft to burn up and be destroyed.

Earth has a magnetic field, which we can measure simply using a compass that points to magnetic north and south on Earth. Saturn also has a magnetic field and my research tries to understand what the structure of this magnetic field is – is it similar to Earth’s or more like Jupiter’s, the other gas giant?

Why else do we care about the magnetic field? Have you ever seen the northern lights at Earth? The amazing green display is actually due to the magnetic field of Earth and the magnetic field of the Sun interacting. The northern lights tell us about the activity of the Sun! Saturn also has this light show, also called its aurora, at its north and south poles and so studying the magnetic field will help us understand what the aurora is trying to ‘tell us’ about the connection between Saturn and the Sun.

Now I am working at home, I am mainly working at my desk all day! Luckily with a PhD you are given a lot of freedom not only with your work but how you carry out your work. I wake up with an alarm but if I don’t fancy an early start I don’t have to get up! But usually I do so that my evenings are free. Work is not my whole life! I think it is really important to separate work from the rest of your life and to give yourself some time off.

During a usual work day, I spend most of my time using Python, analysing magnetic field data. Once I have processed the data and made lots of cool plots, I try to understand what are the physics behind what my results are showing. This involves a lot of reading, you aren’t expect to know everything off the top of your head! You also need to read the latest research to see where your work fits into the picture.

I also have meetings with my supervisors and also other scientists who I am working with. It cannot all be done by one person – collaboration is key!