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Maggie Aderin-Pocock - Inspirational Science Communicator
 



 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Aderin Pocock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie  Aderin Pocock 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Maggie Aderin-Pocock
 

 

  
















 

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Have you ever tuned into a BBC show serendipitously, and found a woman bubbling and brimming over with enthusiasm for space, stars, satellites?
 

You're watching Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock.  A space scientist whose enthusiasm is catching, she can be found in all kinds of programmes where an expert is called in to comment, new rocket launch, anything to do with space.

An amazing and inspiring woman. A privilege to interview her.

Here are two of her programmes for the BBC:

In Orbit: How satellites rule our world 

Do we need the moon?

 

She sees her mission to communicate the fascination and wonder of space, and particularly loves working with children in schools as you will see.

"I live for that"  

 

How did you get started?

 

I was born in the late '60s and I think Space was in the air; in '57 we had Sputnik which was the catalyst for space exploration.

 

However, when I was at school,   I hated reading; I'm a dyslexic.

 

The teacher sent me to the Library. It was there that I saw this beautiful book with an astronaut on the cover. I thought, "Wow, books can perhaps be interesting. That's what I want to do; I want to be an astronaut. I want to go out into Space."

 

That culminated it - "This is what I want to do". I must have been six. I was just born when the moon landings occurred, and I was growing up in an era when people were walking on the moon.

 

I was watching Star Trek, I love science fiction. It just seemed like an actual thing, I thought, "If they're doing it, why not me?"

 

Also, strangely, while I was growing up I felt a little isolated. I grew up in a very white society; being black made it difficult to fit in and, to me, Space gave me that global feel. In space, race almost disappears! 

 

That's what I loved about it, it felt uniting; and also Star Trek was a multi-cultural team working against the aliens!  

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Role Models as a Child? 

 

The two role models that come immediately to mind are a bit odd! First is Dr. Spock (sic), from Star Trek, and second is Sherlock Holmes. But they have things in common; both are analytical and very unemotional. Because my parents split up when I was four, I think the idea of being in total control of your emotions was quite appealing to me because so much was going on and I couldn't control it.   So to be reserved, to analyze things and get a result, was very appealing to me.

 

Next, Yuri Gagarin: and the more I found out about him, the more passionate I got about him. We share a birthday, and he died the year I was born, and (of course) he was the first person into Space.

British or Nigerian?  You have both heritages 

 

I grew up in a very white society and this in itself was very lonely. Kids are interesting, they pick on anything. The sort of isolation I felt could have been directed at any number of things; it could be having ginger hair, being fat or thin, whatever makes you different. Being in a school with very few black kids, it was bound to be what they picked on.   I preferred to say I was Nigerian; if I said I was British they'd say, "No you're not. You can't be, you're black."

 

The problem is I've never even been to Nigeria! Sometimes I would meet Nigerians and they'd speak to me in Yoruba, which I didn't understand. I was a lost Nigerian. I felt I didn't fit in anywhere. Which is why space was so appealing; I didn't need to fit in anywhere.

 

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Luck or Opportunity?

 

I think you make your own luck to a certain extent. Being open to things creates opportunities.

 

Richard Wiseman, a Sociologist and former Magician, has set up all sorts of demonstrations,   He did this thing with 10 people who considered themselves lucky, and 10 who considered themselves unlucky. He asked both groups to read a newspaper and scan the pictures. On a certain page there was a big banner saying "If you find this ad, ask the experimenter for �250."  You can guess the result.

 

It really is a state of mind, that's what I love to tell the kids. So many opportunities come along, "I don't know about this, but I'm going to give it a go."   I don't think you should risk everything to do it, but you should risk a certain amount. Try things. My favourite TV programme is 'Faking it!' (unbelievably it's still available on 4OD). There was a woman who cleaned toilets on a Channel Ferry. They worked with her for four weeks and turned her into a Skipper of a boat! The key thing to me is confidence. At one point she was in this race, skippering this boat, and it was a pretty impressive boat. The other teams were tracking the wind and she said, "No, let's go this way". Everyone looked at her, and the people who'd trained her were saying, "No, it's a classic mistake. What's she doing?" but she stuck to her decision, and she won! Because she had the confidence.

 

That's what I like to give kids if I can; give them the confidence because they can do so much more than they realize. I wish I'd realized that when I was younger, because I was scared of everything. I'm glad I grew into it. Women especially need to have self-confidence because we are self-deprecating. It's instilled into you.   So it's nice to try and break that barrier, say "Yes I can.

 

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Most surprising memory? 

 

Building instruments opened up so many challenges. I was of the opinion that if you worked hard enough you could do anything. With the Chilean project, I found as it progressed I took on more and more responsibilities.   People became disillusioned and they'd leave.

 

At some point you do have to delegate, you can't just keep taking things on. That might work for a small project; but for one that size you need to work out what you can do, and recognize you need support when you can get it.

 

Because I'd taken on such a wide role, I was in a position where I knew the instrument better than anyone else really.   So I could go out to Chile and put it together, which was great. Project Managers don't usually do that. I prefer the technical side to the project management side.

 

The project was threatened with closure, and we spent a very fraught Christmas trying to save the format of the instrument so it would survive, and we succeeded.

 

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From which event / job / occasion did you get the most learning?

 

I guess I've been studying most of my life and I love learning new things.

 

I mentioned building the telescope and I think I learnt a lot then. Before that I'd just go, "Keep on, Maggie, you'll get it done". So, realizing that I can't do everything was a useful lesson to learn although I don't know how much it's sunk in!

 

When my baby was born, the first 4 months taught me patience. Being around, and being able to look after her, made me change my pace a bit. Although, I say that, we did make a documentary. The first four months were quiet, but I made up for it.

 

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When did you first notice that women are treated differently?

 

At a very early age actually, and I think that set up some of my determination.

 

My father and I got on like a house on fire, we very very close, but I was aware that he wanted a boy. He had 4 daughters in the end, I was the third.

 

I was determined to prove to him that I was as good as any boy. Okay, I was a girl, but I was going to demonstrate it's not bad having a girl; I'd be just as good. I tried to fulfill all the things he wanted from a boy. Even after he died, I was still doing that.   I think he saw some of it.

 

I remember saying that I wanted to be a Doctor. He said I should marry a Doctor, and I replied, "No, no, I'll be a Doctor."

 

One thing he really wanted was someone to carry on his name. So, I use my maiden name; in that way I've fulfilled that dream as well. It's funny, it's something I was aware of from a very small child and, even now, I still want to fulfill those dreams he had. I find it strange that I was so driven by it. I think I gained from it; like doing Science, when people say, "That's a boy's subject". So? I'm a girl.

 

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Significant men in your life? 

 

My father, my husband.

 

My husband is a bit like Jocelyn Bell Burnell.  A very calming influence because I'm a wildfire.   He had a very different upbringing; his parents are still together, so he had a very stable background. We're a bit like Yin and Yang.

 

My father actually came to the UK to study medicine. He married my mother in Nigeria and my elder sister, Susan, was born in Nigeria. He was going to settle in, and then bring my mother and sister over. My sister and mother came, but then more of us came.   Looking after kids, he never did get to study medicine, but he was always a fascinated Scientist.

 

When he came to the UK he was quite horrified by what he saw; signs saying "No blacks, no Irish, no dogs". He came over late 50s / early 60s - he was in that environment.

 

He wanted boys because he thought that girls were vulnerable. He especially felt that about black girls growing up in a white society.   I think he felt we could potentially be easily exploited. As a result he brought up four very strong, very independent women - both workwise and moneywise. We could all look after ourselves.

 

My father would tell tales of women who had children but never worked, and then suddenly the husbands left them for secretaries; left them high and dry, and I thought, "That's not happening to me". It was always very important to me, to know I could manage on my own.

 

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Equality and Rights 

 

I think equality is one of the fundamentals: everybody should be treated equally.   It's hard, people are different. For a long time, because I knew my father wanted a boy, I would argue that men and women are the same.

 

That was one of the realizations. We are different; we have different strengths and weaknesses. As a Scientist, I know everything is about distribution. You should treat everybody on an individual basis. We all make generalizations and we all make judgments based on very little evidence, but we should recognize we're doing that, and see past it.   I think that's what equality is about.

 

We all have prejudices, that's part and parcel of being human. Understanding that we have those prejudices and seeing past them is the secret, I think so many times that can get eroded.

 

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What do you see as your core values, which you would not compromise? 

 

I like to think that I'd always empathize with people and put myself in their position; that makes a real difference. It all comes from that empathy, I think that's the key.

 

I hated bullying at school, I couldn't understand why someone would pick on someone else. It just made me annoyed, because what do they gain by putting that person down? I try to empathize with the person who's bullying and think, "Where are they coming from?".

 

If you can empathize and put yourself in someone else's position, then you can see the ill you're doing. I think if you don't empathize, you disconnect yourself from that. I think if we empathized more we would have fewer wars.

 

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If you were speaking to young women starting out, what advice would you give them? 

  

1) I'd say be an opportunist, because things come along that you don't expect. Don't risk everything; work out what you can risk and what you can't.

 

2) At the same time, grab things with both hands when they come along.

 

3) Push yourself because, most of the time, we can achieve far more than we realize if we only get out there, and also have confidence.

 

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Her current telescope is the James Webb.
The several hexagonal mirrors polished to the precision  reflection, being coated with fine gold dust, and folded by origami into a size which can easily be fired from a small rocket.  If this isn't science being magic, I don't know what is.

�2012 [email protected]

 

 
Christina
Woman on a Mission
Diversity and Leadership Consultant
Graduate of Woman of the Year Lunch
 
www.wwom.org
[email protected]

Motivational speaker,
NLP Master Practitioner,
Counsellor and Coach