Case Study: Steph Hill

Steph is a European Communications Manager at CERN.

Try, Try, and Try Again!

Steph career path has lead her to experience different subjects. She went to university to study Geology and Business before gaining a Masters degree in Applied Physics. Like many young people, Steph was a bit unsure of what she wanted to do:

“I did A-levels and went to University, although I had to do some resits and it took me a few years to be sure that I wanted to go to university

This shows the importance of being resilient and to keep trying to achieve what you want.

The importance of communicating science

As part of her job, Steph helps UK technicians, engineers and scientists to talk about the research that they do using particle accelerators including the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Working in such collaborative workplace is very important:

“It gives our researchers the chance to work with the best scientists from around the world, and find answers to some of the biggest unsolved challenges”

She also loves going to see the experiments and learn more about them. Some of them are really impressive. One such experiment is the Compact Muon solenoid (CMS) which is 14,000 tonnes (twice as heavy as the Eiffel Tower” and 100m underground!

Another aspect of Steph’s job is to communicates her findings to key people in the UK government.

Developing her communication skills

Steph worked for several companies after finishing university. She used her communication skills to explain the science and technology behind different things: from what happens to your recycling, why your train is late to what makes chocolate taste so good!  This is something that she enjoys enormously in her current job :

I love sharing the excitement of science and technology with other people, and hopefully inspiring them to find out more. 

The great outdoors, all year around.

Beyond work Steph loves doing different activities all year long. In the summer she loves hiking and mountain biking to see the beautiful landscapes. In the winter, she enjoys skiing and snowshoeing with her friends.