On 6th January, we were privileged to welcome into our school former student, Dr Daniel Watters, who returned to deliver a workshop to Year 12 Physics and Mathematics students.

After leaving English Martyrs’ in 2013, Daniel completed his Masters in Physics and Astrophysics in 2017 and completed his PhD at University of Leicester Earth Science Observation science group in 2021. This experience helped Daniel win a prestigious NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship at NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama (USA) to continue with his research into space-borne precipitation observations.

Daniel inspired our young physicists by talking about his career journey. He gave a crucial insight into the importance of his time at English Martyrs’, including the subjects he chose, in helping his research. He highlighted the importance of additional work such as summer courses which he undertook to enrich his knowledge and offered valuable advice on how to make a successful application to competitive courses at University to read Physics, Engineering and Mathematics.

In the second half of the workshop, Dr Watters introduced his research at NASA on the diurnal cycle of precipitation and challenged students by giving them a set of problem-solving tasks based on his work, involving analysing data on precipitation levels in Leicester and Huntersville.

We would like to thank Dr Watters for generously giving up his time and inspiring our students. We look forward to welcoming him again in the future.