Rhian Davies

Photo of R. Davies
Current Workplace
Arctic Shores
Current Role
Data Scientist
My Mathematics Success Story is...

I've always wanted to be a scientist, and at 16 I started work as a presenter at Techniquest Glyndwr Science Center. I presented science shows to members of the public, making custard powder explode and creating banana ice-cream with liquid nitrogren. It was great fun and I got a real buzz from communicating scientific principles to an audience. I studied mathematics at Lancaster University. I loved my time at Lancaster, the Mathematics and Statistics department is a vibrant and very supportive environment. At first I found statistics dull, I couldn't see the point in endlessly calculating means and standard deviations. However, when I got the chance to apply these concepts to real world problems during a research internship, statistics suddenly became fascinating to me and I quickly enrolled onto as many statistics modules as possible for my final year. I chose to continue my statistical journey with a PhD at the STOR-i Centre for Doctoral Training. STOR-i stands for Statistics and Operational Research with industry. Completing a PhD at STOR-i was a fabulous experience, we were given extensive training in a wide variety of statistical topics from leading experts. Our training was also highly extra-curricular, including problem solving days, leadership masterclasses and communication skills. The support I received from the staff and my peers was incredible and I made some great friends who now work across a number of different industrial sectors including education, energy, finance and customer insight. After finishing my PhD I started work as a data scientist at Arctic Shores, a company which develops game-based psychometric assessments. Before working at Arctic Shores, I hadn't studied psychology at all, now I work with psychologists, game developers and graphic artists on a daily basis. One of the things I love about statistics is how interdisciplinary it is. I get to learn something new everyday. During my time at Lancaster University I was actively involved in many outreach activities. One highlight was developing and presenting a three-day statistics summer school for prospective university students. During the course we helped the students to become aware of statistical traps and encouraged them to approach figures quoted in the media with curiosity. We did this by using real world examples and articles to introduce concepts such as regression to the mean and the prosecutor’s fallacy. I've been able to continue my passion for communicating statistics in my position as an ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society. This voluntary role involves engaging with journalists and members of the public to help them understand everyday statistical concepts. Recently I was consulted by Panorama to stats-check their analysis on drunken behaviour at airports and airplanes. When I'm not delving into data, I can be found cycling around the Lancashire countryside or running up hills. I play percussion in a number of orchestras and am a trustee of the UniBrass Foundation, a charity developing public education in the brass band movement. You can find me on twitter @trianglegirl.

Categories
Women in mathematics
Two body problem