As we always say our alumnae community are always welcome back to school and this week (26th September) we welcomed Emma Timewell (DAHS 1994).

Emma had not been back to school since she’d left school and has spent the past 17 years living and working in New Zealand. Back in Bedford for a visit to home turf, Emma was keen to visit school and deliver a Lunchbox Lecture on working in Science communications.

Emma works for the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd, a government-owned science organisation, which uses world-leading science to improve the way the country produces food using the most sustainable systems. Emma works as their Communications Manager, interpreting and highlighting the wonderful work of her pioneering scientist colleagues across the media and to the public. She says it is her dream job; she felt she was never at home in a laboratory and has always relished talking about science to people instead. We were told some fascinating facts about the Kiwi fruit market, how the Jazz apple took 20 years to perfect and that New Zealand as a country produces food for 40 million people.

Following school, Emma undertook a Biological Sciences degree at the University of East Anglia. She impressed on her audience that life doesn’t always take the path you think and to seize every opportunity that comes your way: Emma’s talk provided a really interesting insight into another science-based career.