Women in Climate (WiC) network
Women in Climate (WiC) network
Posted by Nina Raoult
17 October 2023We were excited to be joined by Fiona O’Connor on Ava Lovelace day!
Fiona joined Exeter University as a Senior Lecturer on a part-time basis in October 2022, in addition to being a Science Fellow at the Met Office. Fiona has had a long career of nearly 20 years at the Met Office, achieving success as a woman in science alongside senior science leadership capabilities. Fiona is an approachable and friendly person, and we were delighted that Fiona agreed to discuss her career, motivation, inspiration, successes and challenges with us.
Fiona kindly gave us a raw look into her career trajectory, from growing up in Limerick where she discovered her love of chemistry and first experienced on how science can impact society, to now leading the Aerosol and Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP7.
She talked about her path to the Met Office via Cambridge and her obtaining a joint position with the university. She gave us an overview of her work at the Met Office, where she has been pivotal in helping chemistry become an integral part of climate models. She discussed the benefits of her joint position with the university, which allows her to focus on her own science one day a week and to interact with very inspiring students. We touched on gender balance and noted how the ratio at early careers at Met Office seems better than before.
We asked Fiona what advice she would give her 30 year old self:
We finished with an interesting discussion on how trying your best does not always means saying yes to everything! We talked about the two-body problem and the benefits of the Met Office for providing job security for both parties. We also discussed the importance of switching off at home. Finally, we talked about the benefits of mentoring and building a support network – and WiC being such a network.