• Question: Do you still get the thrill of the chase when you pick up a new lead or suddenly figure something out? Like spending ages trying to find your keys and then seeing them on the side, but more important, like finding the perfect sample to run tests on?

    Asked by fayesedg to Cat, Daz, Holly, Johnson, Pamela on 21 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Cat O'Connor

      Cat O'Connor answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi Faysedg,

      Oh yes, I sure do. And it’s the hope for one of those moments that keep you going through, long tedious experiments! Like right now, I’m quite excited about a new method of analysing the diversity of species in a community that I may be able to apply to my data to find out something new. Hopefully it’ll work and it’ll be something very cool to write up in my thesis.

      I also love finishing something, which is very like finishing a race really! It’s so nice to be able to say, yup, I’m finished, wooo! Now, onto the next thing!

      Wow, this makes me sound really geeky but you start to appreciate the small things when you work in the subject area I do!

      Hope this answers your question,

      Cat

    • Photo: Darren Braddick

      Darren Braddick answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi fayesedg!

      Sorry for getting your name wrong earlier!

      Well yes, you absolutely get a thrill! Probably not unlike what you say – sometimes it is like you stumble upon a finding (like your keys) with some random nature, or after really hunting for it. Either way, the satisfaction is very great! Science can be amazing, I can tell you are interested in it, and thats a really good thing.

      Sometimes though, it can be frustrating because things may not work, and may not make sense. If you are cool and in control you might ‘pull the thinker pose’ and move it! Thinking is a big big part of science progress, and you need to be cool and calculated in solving problems. However, sometimes you really do stumble on brilliant things by random, and that is still pleasing!

      No matter how big or small the finding, any result is good and if it is new, this all adds to the total human knowledge somehow, and that is really excellent.

      I hope this helps answer your question

      Daz

    • Photo: Pamela Lithgow

      Pamela Lithgow answered on 21 Jun 2011:

      Hi Fayesedg,
      Yeah I get a thrill from figuring something out. Thats one of the reasons I love science! Some people at my work don’t get as excited as me but I love it and am happy for everyone to know when I have got a good result. When things go well or I figure something difficult out I will go into the lab with a big simle and a spring in my step! It is what keeps me going from one thing to another.
      I want to give you a quote (I have used it in a answer before so if you have seen it I am sorry) but it is ” success is the ability to go from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm”. I am always enthusiatic I don’t let the bad things knock me too bad but I let the good build me up 🙂
      Do you have any favourite quotes? I like quotes 🙂
      Pam 🙂

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