Frances Hawkes
BSc Environmental Science, 2009 | PhD Medical Entomology, 2013
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, NRI
“Our lecturers were also world-leading researchers, and it was there that I began to see that research is both fascinating and powerful.”
Frances passionately believes in applying science to solve global problems. She has demonstrated this belief throughout her education and career at the university, most recently by working on a pioneering mosquito trap that mimics human characteristics – an innovative solution against malaria which affects over 200 million people every year. The trap is now part of a project funded by the Medical Research Council, and was also featured on a BBC programme.
As an undergraduate, Frances co-founded an environmental society, and successfully lobbied for a full-time sustainability officer and allotment facilities for students. Four years later, the university was named the UK’s greenest.
During her PhD, she presented research to Parliament, funded and ran ‘bug safaris’ for children in Medway, and successfully designed and built an app with peers that was picked up by the UK’s Field Studies Council. Little wonder she was the inaugural winner of the university’s ‘Student of the Year’ award in 2012.
Now working at the university’s Natural Resources Institute, other parts of her work bring her closer to home, as she monitors invasive mosquito species in south-east England with Public Health England and investigates how to manage mosquitoes in wetlands as part of a major interdisciplinary project at the university.
France Hawkes
BSc Environmental Science, 2009 | PhD Medical Entomology, 2013
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, NRI
“Our lecturers were also world-leading researchers, and it was there that I began to see that research is both fascinating and powerful.”
Frances passionately believes in applying science to solve global problems. She has demonstrated this belief throughout her education and career at the university, most recently by working on a pioneering mosquito trap that mimics human characteristics – an innovative solution against malaria which affects over 200 million people every year. The trap is now part of a project funded by the Medical Research Council, and was also featured on a BBC programme.
As an undergraduate, Frances co-founded an environmental society, and successfully lobbied for a full-time sustainability officer and allotment facilities for students. Four years later, the university was named the UK’s greenest.
During her PhD, she presented research to Parliament, funded and ran ‘bug safaris’ for children in Medway, and successfully designed and built an app with peers that was picked up by the UK’s Field Studies Council. Little wonder she was the inaugural winner of the university’s ‘Student of the Year’ award in 2012.
Now working at the university’s Natural Resources Institute, other parts of her work bring her closer to home, as she monitors invasive mosquito species in south-east England with Public Health England and investigates how to manage mosquitoes in wetlands as part of a major interdisciplinary project at the university.
