Emma Davies

Role: Final year PhD student at Imperial

Subject area: Space physics

Nationality: British

I’m a final year PhD student at Imperial from the UK. I started my PhD in space physics in 2017 and have recently submitted my thesis.

Education

Education

GCSE (or equivalent): 14 GCSEs including Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology

A-level (or equivalent): A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, and General Studies

Degrees
• MSci in Physics, Imperial College London
• PhD on the evolution of coronal mass ejections (ongoing)

Detail about Emma

Research

My research

My PhD research is on the evolution of coronal mass ejections – large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun. They are the main cause of severe space weather on Earth, so I study them to help improve prediction/modelling for future mitigation of their adverse effects.

My inspiration

My inspiration

I was inspired by reading space books when I was very little.

My STEM hero

Who is your STEM hero?

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astrophysicist known for the discovery of radio pulsars. Her career is a huge inspiration to other female physicists – perhaps even more so because she was overlooked for the Nobel Prize awarded for the discovery.

a compass

Most significant discovery/invention?

The compass.

A space shuttle taking off

Career options after study

I’ve just started a post-doctoral research position, but there are plenty of other options both in space (spacecraft instrument engineer, spacecraft operations) or outside of academia (data scientist, teacher, science communicator etc).

Houseplants on a window sill

My hobbies

I can’t stop propagating plants – I no longer buy plants, I just steal cuttings from my friends.

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