Emma Govan is a 3rd year PhD student based in Maynooth, currently working on Variational Bayes for Stable Isotope Mixing Models.

What inspired you to pursue a career in research, and how did you get started in your field?

From a very young age I have been enthusiastic about maths and science. When I was 4 years old my mum bought me a “Horrible Science” book and I was hooked, I read it from cover to cover. I was always reading and learning as a child, and in secondary school I always looked forward to maths and science classes. When I went to college to study General Science in undergrad, I was really inspired by my lecturers. One lecturer in particular really opened my eyes to the variety of careers and the breadth of research being carried out. From then, I knew that I wanted to keep learning and I also wanted to contribute, even in a small way, to the research that was being carried out and the discoveries that were being made every day.