Amy Petts

Analytical Chemist

A colour photograph of a woman working in a laboratory

Image by Joshua Hardy

  • BORN 1994, St Johns Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, England
  • WORKED Battelle UK Ltd – Chelmsford Site
  • MINERVA SCIENTIFICA PROJECT Echoes from Essex 2020

A logo for Minerva Scientifica Connections 2020. Both 'O's of the word connections are connected to a network pattern. The text is blue on a yellow background.

Artistic Connections

I am a keen ambassador for promoting STEM careers and I worked with various schools in and around Chelmsford to help encourage students to consider science as an option for future studies and eventually professions. Through my connections with local schools our company got involved with the Essex 2020 event and then this project.

MUSIC

Title: Echoes from Essex
Composer: FRANCES M LYNCH
Words by: Frances M Lynch
Written in: August 2020
For: Mixed Chorus, Piano, Harpsichord, Bass Viol, 2 Solo Violins, Orchestra
Performed by: Essex Virtual Choir
First Performed: by Essex Virtual Choir on September 20th at the “Hope for Essex” performance on Zoom in collaboration with Chelmsford Civic Theatres and Essex Music Education Hub

This is the signature tune of the “Echoes from Essex” project in which Amy Petts took part. It highlights the lives of our featured historical Essex Women in STEMM and celebrates those who are building the future world now. The project ran from July – October 2020.

Thanks are due to Dr Patricia Fara whose historical research inspired the text for this song and formed the basis for the whole project.

You can download the full text here.

Please visit our Essex Virtual Choir page where you can click through to the resources page for the score and learning recordings.

Education

I went to Chelmer Valley High School in Chelmsford for my secondary and sixth form education and studied biology, chemistry, and maths at A-Level.

After applying I decided that I didn’t want to go down the university route, luckily for me Battelle was in the process of creating STEM relationships with schools and my chemistry teacher handed me a job advert for a trainee technician job.

I am now studying part-time for an environmental sciences degree with the Open University which is funded by the company.

A colour photograph of a woman's gloved hands holding a test tube full of yellow liquid

Image of Amy at work (by Tom Petts)

Occupations

Retail Assistant
My Saturday job whilst doing my A-Levels was in an outdoor clothing shop. I learnt what it was to have a job and some responsibility. The money I made paid for my driving lessons and, as much as I enjoyed my time there, it confirmed that retail was not for me!

Research Technician
My current role is as a research technician for Battelle UK Ltd. We take agricultural products (e.g. pesticides), pharmaceuticals and other chemicals and test them in different environmental systems to see how they react. The testing we do is required by law for companies to put their products on the market.

My day-to-day work is based around analytical chemistry and the department I work in is Environmental Fate. This area looks at radiolabelled versions of chemicals that could be applied to fields or washed into river systems – we analyse samples of soil, water, and crops to see what the chemical is doing.

Scientific Achievements

I became a STEM ambassador a few years ago and have recently taken over the role of STEM Coordinator for the company. I hope to reach study director level within the organisation which would mean I could run projects and manage a team.

Did You Know?

When I was little, I used to be fascinated with mud.

I grew up knowing I wanted to wear a lab coat for a living.

Now I play with radioactive mud whilst wearing my lab coat and I get paid for the pleasure!

AN INSPIRING WOMAN

My chemistry teacher from school always inspired my love of the subject and I give her credit for where I am today, I could not have done this without her.

I try, through my work as a STEM ambassador, to reach out to girls who think they might like science but can’t get past the scientist stereotype and help show them that us girls can do science just as well as the boys, if not better‼

Links