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1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

My name is Monique Wheatle, I am a graduate medical student with a first class degree in biomedical science. My STEM superpower is making stem accessible, fun and interesting for students

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

In secondary school, I went to a science specialist school and found those subjects most interesting. Medicine seemed to be the logical combination for me, combing my love for science with the fact that I am a ‘people person’. Completing work experience in medicine is what cemented it for me and made me want to pursue medicine as a career. 

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now.

I finished GCSES and went on to complete 4 A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths & RS. I did not get the A2 grades I needed for medicine so then pursued medicine through the graduate route. I studied biomedical science for 3 years and got a first-class degree in that, which lead to me getting 3/4 offers for medical school. I am now in my penultimate year of graduate medicine.

 1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

My name is Kwasi Kwakwa and I am a Physicist and Imaging Scientist. My superpower is that I sit in the middle of a lot of different fields, so I have to be able to speak the language of Physicists, Mathematicians, Programmers, Engineers and Biologists!

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

I have always enjoyed Maths and the Sciences, but I do not think I focused more on Physics, until the end of 6thform and the beginning of university.

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now.

After my GCSEs, I knew I wanted to do a STEM subject, so I ended up studying Physics, Chemistry, and Maths at 6th form level. After secondary school in Ghana, I ended up going to University in the USA, initially to get an Electrical Engineering degree, but then I ended up getting stuck in the Physics building! 

After my Physics BA, I worked for a few years in the USA, then a year and a half in Ghana, then moved to London to study for a Physics MRes at King’s College London. I stayed in the same department for a Physics PhD: mostly building microscopes and running imaging experiments. 

After the PhD, I had two Postdoctoral roles, one at Imperial College and one at UCL, both a mixture of microscope building, biological imaging and computer image analysis. Now I am a staff scientist at the European Bioinformatics Institute, doing pretty much the same thing!

  To read more about Kwasi... please download his 'Who Am I?' Profile below!    

1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

I’m a Physics and Astrophysics Masters student and I am the Queen of charts! No matter what the data is, I can make a chart that is both intuitive and interesting to look at. Data visualisation is definitely one my strengths in STEM.

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

I always loved Science at school, but I realised Physics was my favourite as soon as I started studying the 3 sciences separately at 15. Soon after I realised that all the Space documentaries I loved, were actually using Physics to explain our amazing universe. That is when my passion for Astrophysics was clear and I haven’t turned back since. 

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now.

I did my A-Levels in Chemistry, Pure Mathematics & Physics in my home, St Lucia. Then I moved to the UK to pursue an Integrated Masters in Physics and Astrophysics. I ended up taking a year out to do a placement.

 To read more about Cheyenne... please download her 'Who Am I?' Profile below!   

 1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

My name is Navaratnam Partheeban and I am a Farm Animal Veterinary Surgeon. My STEM superpower is I can help support the dairy industry from on the farm to advising on wider policy and research in the sector, which benefits everyone being able to enjoy good quality and nutritious dairy products.

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

When I was 7, I spent time with my uncle who was a small animal vet in East London. I enjoyed science and animals as a child. The variety of the job and working in a clinic was exciting and inspired me to want to be a vet. It was only when I spent a few weeks on a farm before applying for vet school that my passion for farm animals started. 

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now.

After finishing my GCSE’s, I did my A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I completed a degree in Zoology at Manchester University and then studied Veterinary Medicine at Edinburgh University. Following this I went to work as a farm vet in Mid-Wales mainly with sheep. My passion for cows grew and so I worked in a few other farm practices before working in a large dairy veterinary practice. I joined a French pharmaceutical company, where I was the Veterinary Technical Manager for the dairy cow and pig portfolio in the UK and Ireland. 

Teaching had always interested me and an opportunity to become a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Agricultural University came up which I accepted. As part of my job, I managed the health and welfare of the university farms, taught students about livestock production and conducted research into dairy production, which took me to many places around the world. While working, I have completed a few post graduate qualifications in cattle health, welfare and management.

I am now the U.K. Veterinary Dairy Technical Specialist for a large American animal health company. In my day to day role, I get to visit many dairy farmers across the UK, providing advice to keep their animals healthy and produce more milk. I am also involved with setting up research studies and understanding financial and product markets. 

 To read more about Navaratnam... please download his 'Who Am I?' Profile below!  

1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

My name is Adama Saccoh and I am training to be a clinical scientist. My STEM superpower is being able to understand what is going on in the heart through pictures and videos. 

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

At about 9 years old I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I immediately said a Doctor and ran with it. I loved looking at anatomy books, I just found the covers of all the books fascinating. I was an incredibly curious child, always asking why and as I grew older, I became even more obsessed with the human body and wanted to learn how it worked. But little did I know my pursuit to study medicine would be overthrown by my love for all the ‘in between’ things science offers. 

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now. 

I studied 8 GCSEs with all the sciences that were offered to me - Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics, and Further Maths. I then went on to complete my A-levels – Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Economics. 

Following my A levels, I knew I really loved Biology, it was a subject that both naturally clicked for me and I was passionate about outside the general school syllabus. I went to university and studied Medical Physiology that allowed me to do a little bit of everything when it came to the human body. I then decided to pursue a Masters in Echocardiography, which allows me to study the heart, that just happens to be my favourite organ. 

In between GCSESs, A levels and university I tried a lot of different things, through volunteering in a hospital to working with kids as a summer school activity leader. I also interned in a neuroscience lab and then went on to intern in the field of science communication. 

 To read more about Adama... please download her 'Who Am I?' Profile below!  

1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

Hi! My name is Danelle and I’ve worked in Digital Product for the last 3 and a half years. My superpower within is, having the ability to seek out pain points within online journey’s using data and insights. This enables me to create and deliver, with the expertise of technologists and designers, innovative solutions to improve the experiences of customers across web and mobile applications.

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

Curiosity for the “mechanisms behind the tick” have always been a place my mind would often wander to when things became faulty. Understanding how things work behind the scenes, and in some cases, how I can replicate such to create my own, sparked my interests from a young age. I attended a secondary school that specialised in Technology so studying IT was an expected part of the curriculum. I was not immediately interested in this subject, but a lesson around recreating traffic light simulations intrigued me. Finding ways to ensure this complex system worked at all interchanges, and then pressing play on my creation to see if it worked successfully, appealed to me immediately. 

It was from that moment that I formed a new love for Technology.

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now. 

Back in 2007 after completing my GCSE’s, technology was not like it is today. And so, my knowledge on the careers I could have pursued back then was rather limited. After having a stint with braces and meeting an Orthodontist for the first time, I chose to go down the medical route; trying my hand at Dentistry. I studied Biology and Chemistry at A level in college but quickly came to the realisation that it was not for me, abandoning the dentistry dream with it. This led me to switch gears and take up a course in Creative Media, where I planned to get into a career in Fashion. But, before that sudden change could manifest, I suddenly became a mother!

In 2011, I made the decision to go back to education. This time, I studied Multimedia Technology where I could combine tech with the arts. One of the modules on that course was around website design which brought back the feeling of the traffic light simulation all those years ago. This pushed me to take an undergraduate degree in Computing, where I learned everything from building programmes and web pages, to learning about network systems and databases.

After graduating in 2015, I landed a job with TalkTalk as a Technical product executive, working as a programmer to create web optimisation tests. I worked directly with Product Managers, taking their requirements and creating their a/b & multivariant tests. Working alongside them is what introduced me to the role, but also, interested me enough to put myself forward for a position in one of the teams. As a Junior Product Manager, I worked on implementing new promotions and price changes to the website with the help of the Marketing, Technology and Design teams. After 2 and a half years I was unfortunately made redundant due to a company restructure but before long, I gained a new position as a Product Manager at BT. I stayed there for over a year, working to deliver a range of new product propositions across the digital space. 

The back end of 2019 I took a break from the role to pursue other interests with the view to go back in the near future.

To read more about Danelle... please download her 'Who Am I?' Profile below!  

1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower?  

My name is Lynn Asante-Asare, and I'm a medical student at Leicester Medical School, working towards becoming an oncologist. I was born and raised in South London, which included time in Wandsworth, Tooting, and Mitcham. I call myself a “Croydon-gal” because Mitcham has a CR4 postcode!  

My STEM Superpower is having the stamina to learn for years without getting tired! I completed my GCSE’s, A-Levels, BSc, and PhD by my mid-20’s so having an athletic, bench-pressing mind is my STEM superpower. It doesn't mean I'm a genius at all, just that I can learn lots for long periods of time. 

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field?  

I took a trip to Ghana in year 9 to visit my sick grandmother. This exposure to the healthcare system in West Africa first sparked my interest in a career in medicine. In Africa, people die from things we rarely see on our side of the globe such as malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, dehydration, and malnutrition, to name but a few. These are often associated with poor living conditions and sanitation, or limited access to basic treatments like antibiotics, and vaccinations. I felt that studying something related to health care or biological sciences would allow me to make a difference.  

I chose Science, Maths and Statistics at A level, which sparked my love for STEM subjects in a general sense. I got lots of A’s and A*s at GCSE through working hard. I took a gap year in South Africa in 2010/2011. This was the year I lost a friend to Leukaemia, which is a type of blood cancer. That same day, I decided to become a cancer researcher and be a pure scientist, and I’ve been doing cancer research ever since. My love for medicine didn’t bloom until mid-way through my PhD in 2017, where I realised my desire to combine a career in Science and medicine. 

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now.  

I obtained 12 GCSE’s in 2008 and 4 A-Levels in 2010. I took a gap year in 2010 teaching English and Maths to children in South Africa and back in the UK. I then went to the University of Warwick to study Biomedical Sciences in 2011.  

Following good results in my first year, and a successful summer vacation cancer research placement at Warwick Medical School, I was offered the opportunity to take a year out of my degree to work with a pharmaceutical company. I completed my second year at Warwick University, then moved to Liverpool for a year to work as a pharmacologist researching cancer treatments in a pharmaceutical company called RedX Oncology. I then did a summer vacation cancer research placement at the University of Cambridge Department of Biochemistry and the University of Oxford Department of Radiation Oncology, before returning to Warwick for the 3rd and final year of my BSc.  

During this time, I was awarded a scholarship from Cancer Research UK to do a PhD back at the University of Cambridge. I graduated with a First-class BSc and Honours in Biomedical Sciences in the summer of 2015, and a few weeks later started my Ph.D. at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, which is part of the Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine.  

I was a student at St John’s College Cambridge, completed my Ph.D. 4 years later in 2019, and following a 2-week break in Amsterdam, moved to Leicester where I’m now studying medicine at the University of Leicester Medical School. 

 To read more about Dr Lynn... please download her 'Who Am I?' Profile below!  

1. Who are you and what is your STEM Superpower? 

I am Dr Anjana Khatwa and I am an Earth Scientist. My STEM superpower is the ability to turn a piece of rock or a fossil into a handheld time machine and take you back hundreds of millions of years to discover what the Earth used to be like!

2. When did you first realise you were passionate about your STEM subject or field? 

I was about 8 years old when I really started to take an interest in Science. It was a topic on Space that I was learning in Primary school that really let my imagination take flight. Later when I was about 13 years old, I was on holiday in Kenya visiting an ancient lava field where I totally became inspired by the rocks I was walking over. In that moment I wanted to spend my life studying and understanding the Earth and its landscapes.

3. Describe the route you took, which lead from finishing your GCSEs until now. 

I passed 8 GCSE’s and then studied 3 A-Levels; Geography, Art and Psychology. I then went onto gain a BSc. in Earth Science and a PhD in Geography. My PhD focused on whether soft, squishy sediments under large glaciers and ice sheets deformed, causing them to flow faster and thus contribute towards rising sea levels. 

After completing my Ph.D., I spent 4 years in the USA working on several postdoctoral research projects ranging from working on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to modelling nuclear waste flow through earthquake zones! I also spent 2 years working for the US National Park Service where I learnt all about science communication and conservation. Inspired by this experience, I then moved back to the UK where I spent 15 years developing and managing an education programme for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. 

To read more about Dr Anjana... please download her 'Who Am I?' Profile below!