BM: OK. What were you doing before you did start working here?
HF: In this field? Or do you want the whole sort of biography ((laughs))
BM: How did you get involved?
HF: How did - yeah, that's probably the easiest way. I did my degree at Keele University, I studied physics and ( ) biology. And I left there, and I - worked at Boots the Chemist. Now I'd worked at Boots since I was 17 so I knew I could go back there and - get a job there that would tide me over and pay bills all the rest of it. And I wanted to get some management experience. So I went there as a supervisor and learnt how to manage people. And I - cause I thought that's going to stand me in good stead whatever I do, where ever I actually choose what I want to do. Being in Edinburgh there's the Edinburgh Science Festival so I went to that and thought "I can do that. It's what I want to do." Which I'd never known, you know, til I saw it in action. I just thought "Right. I want to be out there presenting stuff and doing exhibits" and this kind of thing. But I didn't know how to get into it. Read New Scientist. In the back of New Scientist there's an article or a - an advert for the MSc in Communicating Science here at Techniquest. So I thought "Ah ha, right it's time to leave Boots. Go and do another qualification. Came down here. Spent a year studying my MSc here. And from then I went - I've worked at @Bristol, twice - I've worked at the Science Museum and now I've come back here.
So I've kind of done schools based things with @Bristol. I did public exhibition development at - the Science Museum. And having done those it made me realise that I really want to do public programmes. Don't want to do schools stuff. Really want to do public stuff. And I really want to manage a team. So when this job came up it was like "Ah. Dream job." So - so yeah it was kind of - and it was just good timing I was, you know, @Bristol was beginning to do my head in a bit. ((laughs))