Sara Sánchez López is a research student at Cranfield University. She is looking at the removal of pesticides from drinking water. Sara studied Forestry Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, and has a Master of Science in Environmental Water Management from Cranfield. Here she tells Soapbox Science about her enthusiasm for science and why its place is on the streets (and by the beach!)
Follow Sara on Twitter: @sasisoy_world
I am enthusiastic and curious about almost everything. I talk quickly and never sit still. Brightly coloured things attract my attention, I love reading, getting muddy playing in the forest and smile easily.
I have always loved nature; I enjoyed learning the names of the plants and how to take care of them, and spent hours reading about animals from other parts of the world. I asked thousands of questions about everything that surrounded me, and I was the kid who would defend a grasshopper from other kids with bad ideas. I guess that nobody was surprised when I decided to be a scientist!
I studied forestry engineering, majored in environmental science and later on I specialised in water science. I worked in Guatemala designing water systems and school sanitation facilities (where I learnt a lot about development), and now I am a researcher at Cranfield University.
My work focuses on the removal of pesticides from drinking water. You would be surprised at the things that are present in water before it is treated and we can drink it safely. Many of the things that must be removed come from human actions: plastics, different chemical substances such as antibiotics, oils and fats. There is a lot of science and technology behind the treatment of each of those substances. But let’s leave it there for now! If you want to know more, I will be talking about water treatments on my soapbox.
I enjoy working with people, and I tend to get involved in lots of projects at the same time. At the moment, in addition to my research, I am the president of SAFAD, a charity that sends graduates to projects in developing countries; and also the co-founder of Ripples Make Waves which is a live, 24-hour, interactive World Water Day video event for everyone, especially kids and teenagers, to learn and discuss water science and issues around the world. (Don´t miss the 2018 edition!)
I ask myself every day what kind of world I would like to live in, and from there I decide what to do. I believe everybody’s actions counts, and in the same way that every long journey starts with a single step, the big changes we wish to make start with a personal choice.
My choices? No disposable things, no plastic bags, no products with palm oil and science communication!
Science isn’t just for scientists or engineers. Science is part of everybody´s life (whether they are aware of it or not) and if you understood a little bit, it´s pretty awesome!
If you think you don’t like science, it might be because nobody has talked to you about it to you in the right way. Come along to Soapbox Science MK on 29th July and let us change that! And of course, if you already like science, come and join us! We would love to share our work with you. Science’s place is on the streets!
Meet Sara at Soapbox Science Milton Keynes on Sat 29th July 2017, 2-3pm talking about “Fatbergs: what happens when things don’t dissolve in water”
Soapbox Science Milton Keynes 