Overview

In the latest of our career exploration interviews, we are delighted to be joined by a former postdoc, Dr Chris McCallum who will share his career journey from research into industry and discuss the decisions he made along the way. You will get an opportunity to listen to some valuable advice on how to use your skills and experience from academia to create a successful career afterwards.

Register now to join our interview with Chris to hear about his journey and experiences and take the opportunity to ask questions.

This session is the third in a series of new career exploration interviews and panel discussions organised as part of the Research Culture NI project, generously funded by Wellcome.

If you want to be notified of future events, please email pdc@qub.ac.uk. 

Format

ALL WELCOME! This event is primarily targeted at postdocs and research staff, but is open to anyone who is interested in attending, including individuals of all career stages and roles affiliated to any university or without university affiliation.

In this event Dr Chris McCallum will be interviewed by Jill Wright, Research Careers and Employability Officer in the Postdoctoral Development Centre at Queen's University Belfast. Jill will ask some prepared questions but also relay questions shared by the audience in the event chat.

This event will be suitable for people who want to attend and listen using audio only, so feel free to join while enjoying your favourite walk or lunch! Automatically generated captions will be enabled for accessibility to attendees. 

Our Guest

DR CHRIS McCALLUM

Chris McCallum is a sustainability consultant with a varied portfolio of clients including the governmental agencies and departments alongside private businesses throughout the UK and Ireland.  His work takes in sustainability including carbon capture and storage (CCS), fleet decarbonisation and blue/green infrastructure for water industry. 

Chris completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast in 2019.  During his PhD he worked with fellow PhD students to open Covet CLR looking to lower the environmental impact of a cup of coffee with reusable coffee cups with 10 stores within the scheme at its peak. While writing his PhD he worked in Centre for Advanced and Sustainable Energy (CASE NI) with Dr Kevin Morgan (QUB) to develop and test a novel catalytic convertor for dual fuel technologies.  Chris then joined Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LyIT now ATU) as a postdoctoral researcher as part of the Bryden Centre.  

Chris’ first role outside of academia was the General Manager of a Mushroom Producer Organisation. Within this role Chris worked with over £17 million in turnover and helped to manage the operational fund which enabled PO members to improve the quantity and quality of the mushrooms grown on site. After this, Chris joined Tetra Tech initially as a Principal Sustainability Consultant in 2022 before being promoted to Associate.