• Question: .Do you prefer working alone or in group?

    Asked by Markus to Carrie, Cedric, Ellen, Ines, Rupert on 7 Mar 2017. This question was also asked by @Mari.
    • Photo: Rupert Marshall

      Rupert Marshall answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      Both! It depends what I am doing. If I am trying to record a bird outside then I prefer to be on my own because extra people risks disturbing the bird. But I like to talk about science with people I work with and we plan reserarch projects and teaching together – it’s nice to bounce ideas around. Sometimes it is useful to work with other people if they are experts in something I am not – we can work together to answer more complicated scientific questions

    • Photo: Ellen Williams

      Ellen Williams answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      I definitely enjoy a bit of both. There is something very special about just sitting in silence watching an elephant going about its day. But equally my very best ideas have come from bouncing thoughts off colleagues and my supervisors, and my work wouldn’t be possible without all of the wonderful zoo keepers that I work with. The joy of what I do is that if life in the fast lane ever gets too much I can retreat to an elephant enclosure by myself though 🙂

    • Photo: Ines Goncalves

      Ines Goncalves answered on 7 Mar 2017:

      Both! I really enjoy the feeling of belonging in a team, of working with people that share my interests and get as excited as I do about my findings (or their findings). But there are times when I prefer to work alone so I can have full control of what needs to be done and how to do it. I like setting my own schedule and deadlines too.

    • Photo: Carrie Ijichi

      Carrie Ijichi answered on 8 Mar 2017:

      I like the peace of working along quite a lot of the time but there are things I can’t achieve on my own and when you’re in a really good team that works well together it’s very satisfying. In science, you have to be willing to get good at doing both.

    • Photo: Cedric Tan

      Cedric Tan answered on 14 Mar 2017:

      I definitely like to work in a group on projects that require interdisciplinary skills like when I create a game, we need an artist and a game designer and the person who wants to create the game, i.e. the person who knows the research. At times however, it is good to focus and do your own work alone.

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