Profile

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Karen Rae

    • About Me:

      I live in Fife with my husband and I work as a Project Manager. I love doing crafts, visiting theme parks and going on adventures.

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      I love doing different craft projects mostly embroidery and knitting in the house but I love trying new crafts and in the last year have done stained glass and blacksmithing. I love visiting theme parks and trying new roller coasters and travelling the world and Scotland going on adventures. I also like to be active and enjoy doing aerial hoop classes, swing dancing and yoga.

    • My pronouns are:

      She/Her

    • How I use Science in my work:

      I use my science knowledge to help design a new laboratory, planning out what we will need to test for and what equipment and chemicals we will need to use.

    • My Work:

      I work in the Scottish Water laboratories testing water to make sure it safe for everyone to drink.

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      I work for Scottish Water and have been a chemist for 18 years testing the water for chemicals that shouldn’t be there such as weed killers and pesticides that run off of farmers fields, diesel and petrol that wash off of roads and lots of other environmental pollutants that can get into the water. I am currently working on designing a new lab so that we can continue to make sure the water is safe for the future.

    • My Typical Day:

      My typical day is wake up, have breakfast and drive to Edinburgh to get to the lab. I then have meetings with other scientists to discuss what they need for their working space. Once I have collected that information I speak to construction experts to tell them what we need. It can be difficult to explain science needs but I use photos and diagrams to illustrate what I am talking about. I work normally 9-6 with a half an hour lunch break and that means I only have to work 4 days a week instead of 5 and I get a Wednesday off every week as well as the weekend.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      If I win the prize money I would buy some equipment to take out to schools so I can show people the sort of tests we do in Scottish Water labs to make sure the water is safe for us all.

    CV

    • Education:

      I went to School at Buckhaven high school where I honestly just picked subjects that I enjoyed with no real thought of how they would affect my future. After school I went to Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh to study chemistry because I didn’t have good enough marks to be a lawyer which I thought would be fun because I like the debating society at school.

    • Qualifications:

      I got 7 standard Grades, 6 highers and 2 advanced highers. I them got a Degree in Combined Studies which was Chemistry, colour science and management. I am now also a Chartered Chemist from the Royal Society of Chemistry

    • Work History:

      After I graduated from University I worked at TK Maxx moving from part time weekend worker to full time to then being a supervisor. I thought I would probably just stay in retail but I got an interview for Scottish Water as an assistant scientist and started work there. I have been at Scottish Water for 18 years moving up from assistant scientist to scientist to team leader and also trying out roles in other areas of the company on secondment. I like to always try new things and I think the more experience you get of different jobs the more skills you have to make you a valuable employee.

    • Current Job:

      My current job is as a project manager working to design and build a new laboratory. This lets me use all my science experience to make sure the construction experts think about how the building will be used and not just how cheap can we build it.

    • Employer:

      I work for Scottish Water who are the provider of safe clean drinking water in Scotland and also the people responsible for taking away and treat waste water.

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        Adventurous, crafty, chemist

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        I wanted to be a dye manufacturer

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        I used to get in trouble for being late and not doing homework

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        I would love to be a personal shopper choosing clothes for other people to wear

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        The Proclaimers

        What's your favourite food?

        Fried Chicken

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        to fly first class in an airplane, to have a pet dragon and to be able to stop time

        Tell us a joke.

        what is brown and sticky? A stick

Questions answered by Karen

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