Laura Hayes
NAME: Laura Hayes
CURRENT TITLE: Geology tutor and PhD Student
AREA OF EXPERTISE: Glacial geology/geomorphology. Geology tutor at Anglo Skills College in Nottingham and PhD student at the University of Sheffield.
EDUCATION: Six years of education down (BS University of Minnesota; MS University of Wisconsin), three (PhD University of Sheffield) to go!
WEBSITE: http://poorlysorted.postach.io/
What’s your job like?
At the moment, it’s quiet. I’ve just returned from living in the Midwest of the United States. I had been teaching large (~80 students) introductory earth sciences, but now I am teaching one ESL student from Libya as part of a test course on introductory geology that the college is developing for ESL students from the Middle East who are going back to work in the oil industry. Things are about to get hectic as I start my PhD in October, and I am about to embark as a field work assistant (another side job of mine – I love fieldwork!) in Corsica with the University of Edinburgh. I also organise a monthly meeting in Sheffield called Nerd Nite where intellectuals, academics, the general public, and a few drunks get together to listen to talks on just about anything. It’s like the discovery channel, but with beer.
What’s a typical day like?
I don’t think I have a typical day, which is why I love whatever I am doing. One day, I might be teaching – which is a great job for me, as I get to talk about all the processes and not be told to shut up (although I do still see a few eyes glaze over haha), and there is nothing like showing people the cool earth processes and have them understand why it’s so cool. I might be on a fieldwork expedition looking at rocks or landforms, exploring new places, and getting new research ideas. I might be at a conference, which are important because sometimes you need a, what I call, REB: research enthusiasm boost – you may love your projects, but they can get to feel a bit familiar, so you need a reminder of why you do all this work and talking to others in your field can lead to new and fresh ideas.
What’s fun?
For me, anything involving geoscience, but most of all, fieldwork. I love being outside, exploring, going to new places – down the road or abroad. I like learning the answers to things; staring at rocks for hours; and trolling Google Earth just to look at different places. Before I entered education and decided to pursue what I love, I just wasn’t happy and felt something was missing from my life.
What’s challenging?
My organisational skills! I’m getting better at sorting myself out, though. So, partly, that’s where the name ‘poorlysorted’ came from: my love of glacial till, but I am also quite disorganised.
What’s your advice to students?
Do what you love. Honestly, everyone says it, but it’s hard to force yourself into a discipline that your heart’s not in, especially long-term. Often, we get other people influencing our choices – parents, spouses, partners, children, etc – but it’s often at the risk of dulling a part of you. Even if, sometimes, you feel like you can’t do it, you can! I’m proof of that. I doubted myself for years until I actually got up and tried. Yes, it’s hard, it takes practice, you will fail – a lot – and you will spend a lot of time feeling alone with your work unrecognised, but sometimes I look at the landforms or the rocks that I love, and I think, I don’t care about the (lack of) money, the recognition, that my master’s degree made me cry, or that people keep asking when I’ll get a real job because I love what I do more than anything. I’m where I supposed to be and life’s too short to be anywhere else.