Alicia McGeachy
Why did you choose Northwestern?
I was invited to come to Northwestern for the Introduction to Graduate Education (IGEN) at Northwestern and immediately fell in love with the campus. After coming back to during campus visits, I met my PhD adviser and I had this somewhat immediate realization that it felt like the right place to be.
How would you describe your research and/or work to a non-academic audience? What was it then and/or what it is now?
As a graduate student, I worked with the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology on addressing the challenge of understanding the potential environmental and biological impacts of engineered nano-scale materials. Now, as a postdoctoral trainee with the Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts, I engage in objects-based and objects-inspired research at the intersection of art and science.
Tell us about a current achievement or something you're working on that excites you.
I am most excited about sharing my work with others. I was recently invited for an interview with Monday Science, and podcasting is never something that I thought I would do but I actually enjoyed that experience. It makes me feel hopeful that people can take something away from my journey that they can apply in the development of their own science stories.
What advice would you give your younger self or someone considering a similar path?
I would tell my younger self to take time to explore what makes you happy and that there is no one path to success.