Dr MAGGIE ADERIN-POCOCK MBE
SPACE SCIENTIST
Born in 1968, just before the historic moon landing of 1969, the possibility of space travel captured Maggie’s imagination from a young age. Watching the beloved cartoon `The Clangers` inspired her to pursue a career as a space scientist.
Growing up, Maggie attended a total of thirteen schools, where her undiagnosed dyslexia placed her in ‘remedial classes’. Her turning point came during a science class when she was able to correctly answer a question that no other student could. Maggie spent seven years studying at Imperial College London, earning a degree in physics and a PhD in mechanical engineering. She went on to work for the Ministry of Defense before securing a ‘dream job’ at University College London building a spectrograph for a telescope in Chile.
A successful two minute long TV spot covering the transit of the planet Venus, led to Maggie filming the TV series, Do We Really Need The Moon? Her knack for explaining difficult scientific concepts in fun and accessible ways has seen her media career flourish, inspiring her to set up Science Innovation, a science communication company.
Still working towards her ‘crazy dream’ of travelling into space, Maggie sees science as the future and hopes the sector’s democratisation sees more young people find their own route into science.
