Profile

Photo:

Sevasti Filippidou

My CV

  • Education:

    I went to College De La Salle, a French high school in Greece.
    Then I went to University in Greece and did my doctorate in Switzerland.

  • Work History:

    My first job was at a hospital at a microbiology lab, but I was feeling very sad for the people who were ill, so I quit and started working at natural environments.
    I worked at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland as a scientist studying life in volcanos.
    I then worked at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, close to Oxford.
    Afterwards, I worked at the German Aerospace centre, at the European Space Agency Headquarters. That was in Cologne, Germany.

  • Current Job:

    I now work as a researcher at the AstrobiologyOU group of the Open University in Milton Keynes and I study Mars-like places on Earth.

    • About Me:

      I’m an astrobiologist, looking for life on other planets. I love telling stories in a funny way.

    • Read more

      I live in London with my best friend. I go to the theatre as often as I can and I train to be an actor. In my free time I knit for my friends, godchildren, and nieces/nephews. I love cooking: I cook the way I do my lab work. I speak fluently several languages, because I have travelled a lot and lived in many countries. I think kindness is the best quality for every person, and perseverance for every scientist. My pronouns are she/her.

    • Read more

      I am an Astrobiologist. This means that I look for life on other planets. I have not yet been able to go to another planet, though. So, what I do instead, is that I look for places on Earth that look like other planets (deserts, volcanos, glaciers) and I go there to observe and understand how living organisms survive in the extreme environments. Then I compare these extreme environments to planets like Mars or Venus and make scenarios of how extra-terrestrials might look like.

    • My Typical Day:

      I get up very early, go to the university campus and do experiments or teach. Then I take the train back to London, cook, eat, and go to the theatre or cinema.

    • Read more

      I wake up at 6 and take the train to Milton Keynes, then a bus to go to the university campus. I go to the lab and do experiments on the soils I collect from extreme environments. Then I analyse the results of the experiments and sometimes I teach students. Another typical day might start in a country that has a dessert or a volcano. I wake up again at 6 and drive to that location, then I observe and sometimes dig for soil that I collect in small bags and bring them back to the lab to investigate.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I’d custom-make some giant microbes that live in extreme environments and might be able to live on other planets.

    • My Interview

      • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        Astrobiologist, kind, funny

        What did you want to be after you left school?

        Actress

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Daily

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Queen

        What's your favourite food?

        Fish cakes

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        I'd wish for longer weekends, for being able to fly, and for a huge bookcase in my living-room

        Tell us a joke.

        The soils I study look like rocky road cakes. Unfortunately my rocky road cake samples never make it to my demonstrations because I eat them beforehand.

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