So I came to Nottingham to do an undergraduate
BA in Archaeology, and whilst there I got
really interested in Archaeological Science.
So I had the cross-over with Science. So I
did the Masters in Materials Science Engineering
and Archaeology together, also at Nottingham.
After graduating, I looked around for other
programmes that involved Science in Archaeology.
I got a job in the Yukon Territory, actually
digging for a site, and working for the Canadian
government. And then I did some Archaeological
Science and North American Archaeology in
order to broaden what my background was. So
I was much more marketable.
The good thing about having both the Science
and the Arts is a lot of companies really
look at the fact that you can actually speak
to other human beings about Science. You can
actually interpret what it means. You can
give people a much more down to earth reply
or a result from a test. I'm an Archaeologist,
but I've also gone into Science and Engineering,
Technology, all sorts of different things,
and done quite a wide variety of things.
I'm actually a Conservation Scientist now,
which is basically the Arts and the Science
together. I've met lots of Artists and been
able to really build up a good contact network.
So I know a lot of people with the cross-overs.
We get a lot of requests from, especially
the police, who want the scientific techniques,
don't have the time to learn higher-level
English to understand how they teach them.
We come along, teach very basic, very simple,
fast down-and-dirty techniques, that they
can also use in the field.
I really want to stress that Arts students
have so much more that they can offer. Yes,
they have an Arts degree, but you can cross
it with Archaeology, you can cross it with
so many other disciplines. And people really
are looking for Artists who are able to speak
to other human beings. You're able to communicate,
you're able to be much more diverse, do a
lot more things and are usually more willing
to learn more things.
Also work experience is really good if you
can just diversify. I had a lot of part-time
jobs, little, small jobs during my PhD, especially.
But also, sometimes it's volunteering for
things, volunteering at museums or galleries,
or joining clubs like the Historical Society.
We'd go out and do re-enactments on most weekends
in World War Two gear, or eighteen fifties
with the big dresses, and we'd go to balls,
and we'd do a lot of promotion of history
especially to children. And doing that, going
to schools and talking to kids about history,
you get them really excited. You also get
all this wonderful experience, that you're
taking away with you. You have the experience
of being able to communicate what you've learned,
what you've tried out. Don't be afraid to
fail either. You know, try different things,
get lots of different diverse experience.
So it's good to look around, see what else
is going out in the society and get involved.
