I am Elena and I am a mathematician who has been working on mathematical models to improve our understanding of physical phenomena. I studied Mathematics in Barcelona (Spain). After a 5-year degree in Maths and a MSc in Applied Maths at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, I decided to start a PhD in Applied Maths. I was really interested in applying my theoretical background to real life problems and this is the reason why I joined the School of Civil Engineering, where I applied my knowledge in numerical methods to better understand how materials break and how fractures propagate. After my PhD I decided to leave solid mechanics behind (well, and sunny Spain) for a postdoc in fluid mechanics at McGill University (Canada). Apart from living surrounded by snow (not easy for a Spaniard...), I learned some new numerical techniques and I applied them to the oil industry. Two years later I decided to move back to Europe and the UK was my choice. There I joined the British Geological Survey, a world-leading geoscience centre. Since then, I've been able to apply numerical methods in a wide range of applications (hydrogeology, radioactive waste disposal...) and I've lived some exciting experiences: I've been underground, more than 1000 metres below the surface! During these last ten years I've been in many conferences where there were barely any women. I feel this is slowly changing and I'm happy to say that recently I've met many young women researchers applying mathematics to some of these challenging experiences!