Women in Ground Investigation – Charlotte’s Story

What is your Job Title and how long have you worked for Structural Soils?

Assistant Laboratory and Quality Manager. 1 year and 3 months.

Tell me about your background before joining Structural Soils (Education or previous jobs etc)

Prior to joining Structural Soils I had progressed from an Apprentice Laboratory Technician to Laboratory Manager at a water and wastewater consultancy company specializing in R&D and wet chemistry. To further bolster my career in science I undertook an Apprenticeship Degree in Chemical Sciences remotely at The Manchester Metropolitan University . I completed my undergraduate degree at Structural Soils achieving a 1st Class Honours in Chemistry and a Distinction for my Level 6 Laboratory Scientist EPA. Additionally I have just applied for Chartered Registered Scientist (RSci) status with the Royal Society of Chemistry. During my degree, I covered core chemistry units, as well as specialist units including material sciences and green chemistry. I also learned to carry out spectroscopy and instrumental analysis for data analysis. Along with development and determination of chemical compounds using Infrared Red, Mass Spectrometry, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. I thoroughly enjoyed my degree, although it was a challenge to balance working fulltime and undertaking a fulltime qualification.

What got you interested in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and Ground Investigation?

As a young child I was completely obsessed with anything science and geology related. At the age of 5 I begged my mum and dad for a fossil ammonite for Christmas. This led to a lifelong love for science with microscopes, human body sets, crystal growing kits, Triops, robot building sets, the Horrible Science magazine series and of course more fossils swiftly following. I just loved to learn, and this ignited a passion I have never lost. I even remember going down to rivers with my dad in the pouring rain to collect water fleas to look at them on a microscopic level and scrambling around on the cliff faces in Robin Hoods Bay to find fossils. Additionally, I have had the privilege as a child to travel the world with my mum experiencing destinations such as the Maasai Mara igniting a love for the natural world too.

What do you do at Structural Soils? What does a typical day look like? What do you enjoy?

I really enjoy being the Assistant Laboratory and Quality Manager at Castleford. The whole team here is lovely, and it is a pleasure to work with them. It is especially interesting to learn about how our laboratory testing is applied to the engineering department. As I am part of the management team my role varies on a day to day basis to suite the laboratories requirements. I primarily help to keep laboratory operations running smoothly and efficiently this includes managing projects, managing resources, working with the laboratory technicians to remediate any issues, liaising with clients, monitoring work processes using Flowfinity and ensuring quality processes are met. Most importantly I feel that everyday is a learning day for myself as I have not been with the business for very long and the work, I am involved with is interesting.

What advice would you give to Future Women in the GI industry?

• Do not be afraid to do things a little bit differently if you have an end goal in site. Not everyone needs to go to university at the age of 18 and no two people are the same, so do not put yourself in the same box if you do not fit into it. Work hard and you will get there.
• Try to learn as much as possible about what you do. It may serve you well in the near future even if you do not use what you have learnt right now.
• Never be afraid to ask and strike up conversations first. If you never ask, you will never get, and you may find that you make some great friends along the way who provide you with opportunities down the line.

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