I began my life in the Great South-East of Queensland as many young geologists to-be do: watching Jurassic Park and fervently wishing I could go there and see the dinosaurs. To achieve this I decided in my teenage years, after a brief flirtation with the ideas of archaeology (my initials are I Jones after all) and marine biology, to dedicate my life to Geological science. What came from that was an evolution in my interests from "Make Dinosaurs Real (Again)" to volcanoes, plate tectonics and all of the weird and wonderful things that came along with them.

After finishing my PhD in 2018, were I examined volcanoes and plate tectonics, I turned my attention to my one true love: Science. As I aspire to support scientific research in all its applications and enjoy characterising new and interesting materials down microscopes and on spectroscopic machinery, I side-stepped directly into Chemical Engineering and then hop-skipped and jumped into X-Ray crystallography. In UWA, I have honed the characterisation, microscopy and spectroscopy skills I began to develop as part of my PhD. I now spend my days mixing noxious chemicals, examining morphological and chemical changes in samples, and squeezing crystals at ridiculous pressures until they change phase, change colour or crush - all for science, of course.

Alas, my dream of dinosaurs is still unfulfilled. Although given the state of the world, that may be for the best.