Lindsay Bennett
Graduated 2008
If you remember, please briefly comment why you chose Leeds for Postgraduate Research Degree Study?
During the last year of my undergraduate degree, I found out about a PhD project at Leeds that gave me the chance to continue to study Meteorology. After finding out more about the project at the open day, the topic and field-based/observational nature of the project really appealed to me. I was also impressed by the friendliness of the department.
How do you think a PhD degree has helped you develop both personally and in your career?
I have gained a large number of new skills through the PhD: computer-based skills such as learning new computer languages and software for displaying and manipulating data; professional skills such as communication through presentations at conferences and writing scientific papers, teamwork through participating in field campaigns and collaborating with researchers from around the world, and personal skills such as patience and perseverance! I continue to develop and use these skills in my post-doctoral work.
Please give a brief profile of your career path to your current job (including your first degree):
I did a BSc (Hons) in Meteorology and Oceanography at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, (1999-2003). It was a 4 year course with the 3rd year spent abroad at a US University; I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder. Through the courses I took that year, I met researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and I was offered a student placement for 10 weeks during the summer to work on a small research project.
I then came to Leeds to do a PhD in Meteorology, studying the processes that trigger thunderstorms (2003-2007). It was combined with a studentship with NCAR so I was able to continue to work with scientists I had met there and visit several times during my PhD.
I started my current job as a post-doctoral research fellow in June 2008, working on a similar project to my PhD.
What are the challenges and rewards of your current job?
Working with observational data is always a challenge, from the observing/collecting process through to the analysis and synthesis of the data. You need to have a lot of patience in meteorology projects, waiting for the weather to give you the right conditions and making the most of the times when it’s doing the opposite.
Being involved in field campaigns and international projects has given me the opportunity to explore different countries and work with many different people. Seeing my research come together as a paper and finally get published is very rewarding.
What direction do you want your career to go in the future?
I am happy to continue the research I’m doing at the moment, learning more about different aspects of thunderstorms. I enjoy the combination of doing both field work and office-based work. I’m particularly interested in the severe thunderstorms that occur in the USA each spring that often produce tornadoes. I was very lucky to be able to take part in the largest ever tornado study, Vortex2, during spring 2009 and 2010. I hope to be able to work on some of this data in the future.