Profile
Zoe Vance
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About Me:
I’m Zoe, I’m from Ireland 🇮🇪 but now live in Edinburgh with my partner. I work as a biology researcher but also really love cinema, crafting and baking 🎦🧶🧁.
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I spend a lot of my free time at the cinema, especially the Cameo in Edinburgh! Last year my partner and I watched 125 films altogether. Since moving here we’ve both got really into horror films especially. Despite spending a lot of time scaring myself on purpose, my other hobbies are very cosy. I love knitting and have also taken up crochet and embroidery. Can’t beat baking for a bit of stress busting though!
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I work in virus evolution – the lab I work in uses computers to look at how viruses change to work out lots of useful things about them.
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The lab I work in uses computers to look at the ‘genetic code’ of viruses. Just like we have DNA that acts like a guidebook to tell our bodies how to work and develop, viruses also contain genetic information that controls how they infect us and spread. We can figure out a lot by looking at their genetic code by combining it with what we know about the person who was carrying the virus when it was sampled, like who they’ve been in contact with and how sick they were. Adding information from the virus’ genetics can help us to know if outbreaks are related to each other, or if the virus is changing in dangerous ways that mean it spreads faster or makes us sicker. We also write computer programs that help other people with tracking viruses. At the minute, I work on a program that helps people keep track of the virus that causes polio. I didn’t always work on viruses! I did a lot of work on animals before including when we sequenced my supervisor’s dog so we could look at her DNA and work out what mix of breeds she is – she’s pictured at the top and (spoilers) has a border collie grandparent!
I also do some work on bringing science out to the public, for example last year I helped with an activity explaining how some of our work is done where we had giant crocheted viruses!
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My Typical Day:
I get up and have breakfast and try to get into the office for about 10am, unless I’m working from home that day, then I just start working at the kitchen table. Work can be different depending on the day but normally I do some mix of emails, writing code and running programs other people have written, sometimes we have meetings with people we work with in other labs too. I also do a lot of reading of results other people have put out, we have to keep up with what’s going on! If I’m in the office we usually all go for lunch together around 12pm/1pm and sit with everyone else in our department and we also usually have a coffee and biscuits break at some stage. I normally pack up and head home at around 6pm.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’m involved with a few science communication projects and ideas that I would love to be able to take further. One uses Minecraft to show how we look into outbreaks – you get to visit cities in Minecraft, work out what’s making people sick and decide what should be done about it! Another is going to run for the first time at Edinburgh Science Festival this year and uses bingo to explain how a virus can go from infecting animals to causing outbreaks in humans. I would probably use the prize money to expand reach for these activities.
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Education:
I went to secondary school at St. Louis in Monaghan, where I’m originally from. We cover a lot of subjects right up to the end of school in Ireland, so you only get a broad idea of a subject but I knew I wanted to work in science of some sort.
I then went on to do a BA in Genetics at Trinity College Dublin, which was a general science course to begin with where we picked our final degree subject halfway through. I ended up in Genetics but also did courses in maths, chemistry and geology which I think have all been really useful to me.
I stayed in Trinity for my PhD in molecular evolution/bioinformatics, where I worked on what happens if parts of our genetic code double themselves. During those 4 years I also did a post-graduate certificate in statistics, which is pretty helpful to have working in research.
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Qualifications:
I came through the Irish education system so my first qualifications were the Junior Cert (10 As in English, Irish, Maths, History, Geography, Home Economics, French, Science, Civics,Business) and Leaving Cert (5 A1s in English, Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and 2 A2s in Irish and French).
In university I got my BA in Genetics (I), a post grad cert in Statistics (Distinction) and my PhD.
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Work History:
My first job was during my BA, when I would come home to work in the petrol station nearest my parents’ house on the weekends to earn some extra cash. I worked there every weekend and full time in the summer for 2 and a half years. I sometimes miss meeting so many people and I definitely got very good at communication while I was there, but I really don’t miss the 7am starts or 11pm finishes!
I quit that job in the summer of my 3rd year at college to do a summer internship in a research lab that looked at antibiotic resistance in E. coli. My job was basically to look at the genetic code of certain types of E. coli that seem dangerous and see if they have any sign that the medicine we use to treat infections might not work.
Finally I started my PhD the September after I finished my BA, worked in that lab for another year afterwards and then moved on to my current job!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
crafty evolutionary biologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
When I was younger, a writer. But by the time I went to uni, a neuroscientist.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not a lot, was separated from people for chatting in class fairly frequently though.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I would love to write books for a living but I think I'd probably want to work in science journalism if it came to it.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
CMAT
What's your favourite food?
Mozzarella sticks, or maybe just cheese in general!
Tell us a joke.
Why can't you trust atoms? They make up everything!
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