Dashboard – I'm a Scientist 2024

About Me:

I’m a nature and sports lover. I try to spend all the time I can outdoors.
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I’m from Spain and moved to the UK more than 5 years ago. I have two lovely cats. In my spare time, I love playing basketball, doing Bootcamp sessions, reading and hiking. I can spend hours and hours walking and looking for insects and birds.
My pronouns are:

she/her
My Work:

I work studying diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and other insects and ticks.
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There are many mosquitoes species, and other insects, that can transmit diseases to animals and to humans. I study how mosquitoes transmit diseases, as well as the the impact of global change in these diseases
My Typical Day:

First thing I do in the morning is to cuddle my cats, have breakfast and read the news on the internet. Once at work, I usually spend most of the time looking after the mosquitoes in the insectary (try no to be bitten by them).
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First thing I do in the morning is to cuddle my cats, have breakfast and read the news on the internet. Once I arrive work, I go to check on the mosquito colonies we have in the insectary and see that everything is alright. We need to be sure that the environmental conditions are ok, not too cold, not too warm, the correct humidity. Then, depending on the day, I have to feed the mosquito larvae, cross mosquitoes to have new generations, bloodfeed the females… In short, have the mosquitoes happy so we can continue our experiments. Some days, I spend hours on the microscope looking mosquitoes.

Candidate CV questions (extra)

Education:

Elementary school: Divino Salvador.
Secondary school: Carraqueira.
University of Vigo (Bsc in Biology).
University Complutense of Madrid (Msc in Clinical Analysis and PhD in Microbiology and Parasitology)
Qualifications:

In Spain grades usually are up to 10. Regarding this, my qualifications are:
Secondary school, 8.75.
BSc Biology, 6.6.
MSc Clinical Analysis, 8.8.
PhD Microbiology and Parasitology, 10.
Work History:

I worked as a waitress during the summer holidays and bank holidays while studying the BSc in Biology. Also, during the MSc, I have a part-time job as a waitress in the mornings and went to the Uni in the afternoon/evenings.
My first science-related job was at the Medical Entomology Laboratory in the National Centre for Microbiology in Madrid. There I carried out entomological surveys and analyse the collected insects. More specifically, we were interested in analyse the sandflies present in the region, because they can transmit a parasite called Leishmania.

One moved to the UK, I started working at The Pirbright Institute investigating new genetic biocontrol strategies for mosquito control (mosquito transgenics)

My Interview
- How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
  
  Curious, tenacious, bookworm
  
  What did you want to be after you left school?
  
  A scientist
  
  Were you ever in trouble at school?
  
  No
  
  Who is your favourite singer or band?
  
  Nightwish
  
  What's your favourite food?
  
  Pizza
  
  If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
  
  Have a house with garden and adopt a dog, travel and explore whole Europe, have my own library
  
  Tell us a joke.
  
  Mosquitoes are like family, annoying, but they carry your blood