Eleanor

Experience

I have been tutoring with Keystone Tutors since 2010. Currently, I live in Sydney, so I will only be tutoring online.

2021-current: I am a member of the Australian Tutoring Association and have obtained a tutoring qualification with the ATA College. I regularly participate in training provided by both Keystone Tutors and the ATA.

2015-2018: I worked as an Education Officer at ANSTO's Discovery Centre, in Sydney, designing exhibitions and planning science workshops brimming with exciting hands-on experiments for children to attend in their school holidays.

2012: For three months I worked as an Education Consultant for Fusion Universal, an online teaching and learning tool, mapping the 13+ science curriculum in preparation for revision videos.

2011-2012: I completed internships at the Science Museum in London, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Galileo Museum in Florence.

2007-2008: I taught piano to students aged 8 to 13, preparing them for grade examinations. My youngest had particular difficulty reading music, and I devised a colour-based system to help her learn musical notation.

2006-2008: I worked as a researcher at Cardiff University with the Nuffield Science Foundation, genetically modifying bacteria with GFP as part of Prof AK Campbell’s research into lactose intolerance. I received a Gold Crest Award from the Royal Society for this project.

Biography

I grew up in South Wales and went to Howell’s GDST School in Cardiff. I studied Biology, Chemistry and Maths to A level (and Latin to AS!), and I did my degree in Biochemistry at Imperial College, London.

I then completed my Masters in Science Communication at Imperial College. As much as I have enjoyed the research-based area of science, my interest and enthusiasm lies in the communication of the outcome of research and I am committed to teaching science in the long-term.

I have always been drawn to teaching and have played active roles in student welfare in both school and university: during my time at Imperial I was a hall senior, welcoming new students and organising events, at school I was deputy head girl.

Personal Approach

Fascinated as I am by science, I am equally interested in how it is made accessible to people who aren’t scientists, and enjoyable to those who may be wary at first. I have found that understanding and helping others understand science are very different things, and the greatest scientists are not necessarily the best teachers! I am thrilled to be part of the scientific community; there is a huge amount of research happening all over the world and I am dedicated to communicating the changing face of science.

I strongly believe that teaching science is important not only for nurturing new research-talent but also to give everybody the chance to understand and appreciate technology that appears in their everyday lives. I particularly enjoy the challenge of adapting my teaching to complement each student's way of learning and concentrate on helping students build confidence and interest in a subject.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I am currently doing a creative writing PhD, with Cardiff Metropolitan University, analysing the representation of women in eighteenth-century anatomy.

One of my great ambitions is to write a novel, and I have completed a six-month writing course at the Faber Academy in Bloomsbury.

I have a blog where I write about dress-making, which is a favourite hobby of mine.

I am particularly interested in the educational work done in museums, taking learning out of the classroom, and I have collaborated with many museums in both London and Sydney.