2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS).
On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we hear from Frances, a Senior Toxicologist at the OPSS, as she shares her career journey.
I’ve always been fascinated by biology. I grew up on a dairy farm, so was fully aware of many biological processes from an early age. Bug hunting, life cycles and how ecosystems work fascinated me, but I was especially interested in the human body and I spent hours poring over my Dad’s A-Level biology books as a child, learning about all the organs and what they do.
After school and A-levels, I had no idea what type of career I wanted to follow, but I went on to study Biological Sciences at University because I enjoyed it. After a brief stint in International Freight Forwarding, I knew I wanted to pursue something more relevant to my degree and which would provide me with a sense of fulfillment by making a difference to the public. I spotted an MSc in Toxicology at the University of Birmingham which sounded right up my street and went for it – it was biology, but with potentially dangerous chemicals mixed in too – what’s not to like?
Wind forwards a couple of years, and I found myself at the Food Standards Agency, undertaking risk assessments on chemicals in food and loving it. Even the day when someone rang in to ask me to identify the wild mushrooms they had already picked and put into a soup for their guests that were arriving in half an hour (I told him to throw it away and give them something else instead).
Now a fair few years later, I’m undertaking a similar role within OPSS, working on consumer products. I feel very privileged to work with some amazing scientists across government and within our scientific advisory group – the SAG-CS. I love that my role makes a direct difference to consumers – alongside the SAG-CS, we undertake chemical risk assessments, which can be directly used to change policy on permitted chemicals or their levels within regulations – thus having a direct impact on protecting consumers.
To learn more about International Day of Women and Girls in Science, visit the following link: https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day
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