Florence Downs is an editor at Ingenia, the Royal Academy of Engineering’s free-to-read print and online magazine for young people interested in STEM. She studied physics at the University of Bristol, UK, before doing a DPhil in synthetic biology at the University of Oxford.
What skills do you use every day in your job?
As an editor, the largest part of my job is doing just that – editing. Most broadly, I spend my time working out how to communicate a story as clearly as possible to the reader. A lot of the time that might just involve a bit of rearrangement and grammatical wrangling. Sometimes it calls for more of a rewrite, and the writer in me can’t help but get excited for those moments. I write shorter pieces for the magazine too, so am trying to develop my approaches to storytelling, interviewing and other more “writerly” skills.
Applying a curious mindset definitely helps me to spot what a story (no matter how long or short) could be missing. Having a scientific background helps a lot with that. Being happy to get stuck into a new subject – if you can call that a skill – is something that’s come in handy in every job I’ve had and that was definitely honed during my physics degree. Without it, it would have been impossible to hop between scientific disciplines and, eventually, find myself in the world of engineering.
As with any job, there’s always a degree of plate spinning. Managing all the smaller aspects of the role – from newsletters to web analytics – is vital.
What do you like best and least about your job?
I love so many things about it. Probably the main one is that I am constantly learning. Every day I get to satisfy my burning curiosities – learn about new technologies and how engineers are making the world a better place. I’m a bit of a magpie so thankfully it’s part and parcel of this job to be drawn to shiny and interesting things.
There’s also the process of seeing an article germinate and eventually take shape. It’s very creative (and a lot of fun) thinking about what to cover and how to guide a piece in the right direction. At the same time, it’s a collective effort, and that comes down to everyone who feeds into it, from our editorial board and team to freelance writers.
Moiya McTier: from scientist to science communicator
I’m grateful to be learning from lots of inspiring people – engineers at all stages of their careers and creative science communicators and writers. Inspiration comes from the other side too. It’s all too often that I’ll interview someone and the amount they’ve achieved before turning 25 will blow my mind.
What I like least is that there’s not enough time in the day to pursue all the article and project ideas we have. It can be a tough call choosing something to prioritize and having to put something else to one side for now.
What do you know today that you wish you knew when you were starting out in your career?
Definitely this: stop worrying so much and know that everything will work out. I’ve learned so much from each stage of my career and would love to tell my past self just to enjoy it. That, incidentally, was also some of the best advice I was given about my PhD viva.
