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Sarah Bennett

What is your current role and what does a typical week look like?

I manage the WISB Research Technology Facility, which consists of a wide range of instrumentation initially designed to support research in Synthetic Biology. The WISB RTF didn’t exist when I arrived at Warwick in 2015 and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to create a facility from scratch.

My role has been so varied, from tendering for instruments and optimising the layout of the labs, to fixing instruments and training users. There is no typical week or day, but that’s what keeps things interesting.

Nationality: British

Which part of your role do you enjoy the most, and what are the biggest challenges?
I really enjoy working with such a wide range of people and enabling research. My favourite technology is our liquid handling robots and taking a bench top protocol and programming the robot to automate the process for high-throughput. The biggest challenge is fitting in every aspect of my job!

How has your education or roles previous to joining Life Sciences, informed your interests, and why did you choose this career direction?
My career started off in research, with an Oceanography PhD and post-doctoral research in the USA. I loved to travel and spent many weeks at sea carrying out my research. With my wunderlust satisfied, my career graduated towards research support, with a stepping stone move to the NERC Stable Isotope Facility at the British Geological Survey. I then moved to Warwick in 2015, attracted by the opportunity to develop a facility from scratch.

What is your favourite place on campus and why?
The Warwick Arts Centre is such a great asset to the University, from their diverse range of shows to the regular family events in the school holidays. Seeing Maddie Moat was a particular highlight!


Can you give an example of something that has made you feel part of the community while in Life Sciences, and what could be improved to enable this?
The Technician Commitment has been a fantastic initiative that has enabled me to be part of a University wide community. Through my involvement, I have been introduced to other technicians across campus providing comradery throughout the Covid pandemic. The initiative has provided me with access to funding opportunities, training, and university wide and industrial collaborations. I have been given the opportunity to improve the Research Culture for Technicians at Warwick, as the technical representative on the institutions newly formed Research Culture Committee, chaired by the PVC (Research). This is a particularly exciting time for Technical careers and I encourage all staff to engage with the initiative. Requesting funds on research grants for technical support will now be expected from funding agencies, enabling staff retention and career progression as well as high-level technical expertise within the lab.

What are your main interests or passions, outside of work?
Cycling! I have a cargo bike to cart my two kids around on and my husband and I spent our honeymoon bike touring New Zealand. More recently, I’ve started to learn the acoustic guitar and dabbled in a bit of dressmaking.


Interview date November 2021