A day in the life of
Adam Hunt
Pathway to
success
2011–present,
regional coordinator,
education, RSC.
2007–2011,
coordinator of education for
SATRO Ltd.
RSC regional coordinator
Adam Hunt is a man passionate about
communicating the diverse range of careers
that chemistry can lead to. He is now a regional
education coordinator for the RSC. He tells
Josh Howgego what a typical day at work looks
like for him.
Matchmaker
Adam’s passion for communicating science arose
when he became a chemistry technician in a high
school. After completing his degree, Adam thought
that working life might be one full of analysing lab
samples. However, through helping teach chemistry,
he began to realise what a breadth of options there
really are.
He rose to the challenge and went on to work at a
science festival where he organised events to promote
and provide information on careers in chemistry. In
that role Adam worked with a wide range chemists. He
now works for the RSC educational division, where he
uses his knowledge to ‘matchmake’ these people with
schools and educational events where they can share
their enthusiasm for chemistry.
Adam enjoys travelling as part of his job, and a good
thing too, as he does lots of it. He is responsible for
the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC’s) education
activities across the whole of south east England. He
visits schools, colleges and universities across that
area, developing relationships with teachers to see
how the RSC can support their teaching.
As part of his everyday work, he helps teachers to make
contacts with his network of professional chemists.
He also organises careers talks for students as well
as providing printed resources and other guidance.
Whatever help a school needs with chemistry, Adam
can normally arrange someone who can assist. He can
also advise teachers about funding for educational
projects (the RSC itself provides this in some cases)
and writing proposals to apply for grants. To make all of
this work, he needs really good interpersonal skills. He
uses his time management skills so that his ideas and
input can be delivered in good time for school events,
ensuring that everything runs smoothly.
2002–2005,
BSc in conservation biology,
University of Aberdeen.
2001–2002,
High school science
technician, Hampshire.
1997–2001,
BSc in applied biosciences
and chemistry at the
Robert Gordon University,
Aberdeen.
1997,
Scottish Highers in maths,
english, chemistry, physics
and biology.
Speed networking
One of Adam’s proudest achievements was organising
what he terms ‘speed networking.’ This event put 15
or so chemistry professionals in a room with teachers
who take turns to chat with each of them for five to ten
minutes. In a very short space of time, each teacher is
aware of 15 career opportunities for chemistry students.
If each teacher then tells just 30 students, that’s
something like 500 people who now know more about
where chemistry can take you. It’s a very effective tool
for learning and raising the awareness of careers in
chemistry.
Not a black art
The message Adam wants us to take away is that
chemistry is not a black art. It’s an integral part of
many jobs, from the production of household products
like hair gels and cleaning sprays to the intrigue of
investigative forensic science.
oChem
You can download InfoChem at www.rsc.org/inf
and copy it for use within schools
0511INFO - A day in the life of_BackYard Chemistry.indd 7
2005–2007,
coordinator of TechFest
science festival.
InfoChem
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06/09/2011 07:59:47