Profile
Jake Morton
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About Me:
Hello! I’m Jake, and I work at Life Science Centre. My favourite bits of science are dinosaurs, rocks and fossils 🦕, but I love space 🚀 too!
Outside of work I like playing board games and video games 🎮, going on a walk to collect fossils 🐚, house plants 🪴, cooking 🍲 and looking after my cat Darwin 🐈⬛.
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I grew up in a little village in Yorkshire, where I went to school and did my A levels. I then went to university, first in Leeds, then in Bristol.
I now work in a science centre, where I run workshops in our labs and organise visits to schools with our inflatable planetarium. I’m a geologist and a palaeontologist, interested in the science of planet Earth and its history.
Outside of work I like going on walks to find new fossils for my collection, as well as cooking, gardening, playing video games and board games with my friends, and spending time with my cat, Darwin. I also play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends a couple of times a week!
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My pronouns are:
He/Him
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My Work:
I work at Life Science Centre! Most days I run exciting science workshops for schools. I’m also a palaeontologist, which means I’m interested in rocks, fossils and dinosaurs, and what they can tell us about the history of our planet. I’m a big space geek too! You can ask me about that, about working in a science centre, or anything else you like!
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My job is all about getting people excited about science. There are so many amazing discoveries being made all the time, and I love being able to share all the incredible facts I’ve learned with everyone else. To do this job I have to know lots of things about lots of different parts of science, which means I never stop learning!
I get to play with all the really exciting bits of science, whether that’s putting up an inflatable planetarium in a school hall to show people the stars and planets, or setting a teacher on fire (safely of course!) as part of a workshop about the human body.
A big part of my job at the moment is running the Space Explorers programme, which means not only do I get to visit your school with the inflatable planetarium, I also get to write the shows that happen inside it and train our presenters on how to perform them.
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Education:
I studied Geology (using rocks to find out about the Earth and its history) at the University of Leeds.
I then studied Palaeobiology (using fossils to find out about extinct plants and animals, like dinosaurs!) at the University of Bristol.
These were both loads of fun, because I got to go on fieldwork all over the UK and beyond! The best one I ever did was 6 weeks on a small Scottish island exploring and making a map of the rocks there with a group of friends.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs in Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, English, Geography, Engineering and Art
A-levels in Chemistry, Geography and English Language
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Work History:
Before I worked at the Centre for Life I worked in the North Pennines (the area of hills to the west of Newcastle and Durham). The region is a National Landscape and a UNESCO Global Geopark (which means it’s a really beautiful area and the rocks there tell an amazing story about the history of our planet). My job was all about sharing that story with other people! I got to visit lots of schools, write leaflets for people to use on walks in the countryside, and run activities at events.
I’ve also worked in an Oxfam shop, a Poundland shop, and as a field assistant helping to dig up fossils on beaches around the UK!
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Current Job:
Schools and Communities Project Co-ordinator
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Employer:
Life Science Centre
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Dino-mad geek
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wasn't really sure. For most of school I wanted to either be a scientist or an artist.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
A graphic designer
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Busted! (or Two Steps from Hell)
What's your favourite food?
Curry and pizza (sometimes together!)
Tell us a joke.
Why did the dinosaur cross the road? To eat the chickens on the other side!
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