Nicholas Blackwood

I have a Biological Sciences degree specialising in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh, an MSc in Evolutionary Anthropology and a PhD in Biological Anthropology, both from Durham University. In my MSc and PhD, I specialised in Primate Behaviour.

Before becoming a teacher, I worked in Science Communication at Newcastle University and the Life Science Centre.

I teach A-Level Biology and Applied Science.

While I was writing up my PhD thesis I started working at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle.

I was interested in communicating ideas in Science to the wider public. I didn’t know it at the time, but that was my first step towards teaching as a career.

When students make the link between what they hear in lessons or read in the pages of their textbooks and the actual real-world around them. You can almost hear the click in their brains and see the light switching on as they realise they can apply biological theory to their own lives and experience.

It’s hard to pick one, but every year, seeing students open their results and realise they are going to their dream university is a real high.

The natural world around me and its tenacity in the face of human encroachment; my colleagues and their commitment to learning; and my students, every time they are excited about something new in biology.

Education is essential to give people the tools for better life, for themselves and everyone around them.

I’d like to think that I’m preparing students well for that next step in life in their science careers, whether it be university, work or an apprenticeship.

When students do not take a science route after college, I hope their understanding of biology will help them in comprehension and appreciation of the functioning of their own bodies and of the organisms and ecosystems around them.

I worked in a market garden the summer after I finished my GCSEs.

I think that real, motivational, inspiration needs to come from within. Those students who have a goal, be that a particular university degree course or career, are inspired to work hard and achieve that goal.

In Zoology at Edingburgh we were taught by Professor Aubry Manning. His lectures were wonderful, like an academic version of a David Attenborourgh documentary. The lecture theatre was always crammed with students just listening, too enraptured even to take notes!

Honestly and simply, work hard outside of lessons from day one.

Enthusiastic Biology Hobbit.

Get on with it.

How can we get governments and individuals to take care of the environment more seriously?

Either that, or: What does life elsewhere in the universe look like?

I like reading books, going outside for a walk or run in the countryside and listening to music, especially live bands.