Student Highlights
Forging teamwork and resilience

Starting at the University of Newcastle in 2020, Claire is keen to apply the knowledge gained from her Bachelor of Science/Laws (Honours) double degree in the wider world.

“I suppose my passion is quite cliché, but it is to make a difference. My end goal is to become an Environmental Lawyer.

“By taking on this double degree, I am able to gain relevant knowledge from the science discipline as well as achieving the necessary qualification in law,” Claire said.

A major highlight of Claire’s study experience has been the SCIE2001 and SCIE2002 courses.

“In Semester 1 of 2021 I participated in SCIE2001 (Professional Employment Skills). Our Course Coordinator, Bonnie McBain, was fantastic in providing expertise about the skills and insights required when joining the workforce.

“I have successfully entered the workforce in my desired field, and I believe that the guidance provided in this course relating to how to carry yourself during interviews, how to write professionally and how to meet specific selection criteria greatly assisted me in my job-hunting journey,” she said.

As part of the SCIE2002 course, Claire was part of an interdisciplinary student team that worked with a University client on a real-world problem, providing recommendations in the form of a professional report.

“My team’s topic was whether we could attempt to achieve carbon neutrality at the University of Newcastle. This was a topic that greatly aligned with my personal interests and views,” she said.

Claire’s team had a lot of creative ideas in the initial planning stages of the project.

“Our brainstorming sessions produced a wide variety of ideas, from putting timers on lights, to painting all the buildings on campus with thermos-regulating paint.

“Each team member had a different disciplinary background and therefore took a different approach to things. This made sure we covered a lot of bases through our creative design and ticked the boxes needed to produce high quality work.

“Ultimately, we provided a novel solution to this issue that could be implemented and could make a difference,” Claire said.

The team proposed the implementation of power generated gym equipment. By taking a multidisciplinary approach to their problem, the team’s solution covered the disciplines of science, physics, engineering, maths and statistical analysis.

When reflecting on the project, Claire believes it was a valuable experience.

“This project gave us room for reflection. Each team member was at different stages of their degree and had different experiences and knowledge.

“It was a very rewarding experience to be able to collaborate and learn from others and show a few skills myself.

“The process was definitely challenging at times as most of the course was undertaken in an online setting. Communication skills were a major necessity as well as having the ability to think critically and creatively,” she said.

Claire is very proud to have shown personal and team resilience through COVID.

“I think it says a lot about a person’s resilience to situations outside of your control if you can still manage to produce high quality work when facing major challenges.

“I believe having the ability to work collaboratively in online settings is a massive skill and would be desirable to any employer,” she said.

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Claire Barry

Claire is keen to apply the knowledge gained from her Bachelor of Science/Laws (Honours) double degree in the wider world.

Each team member had a different disciplinary background and therefore took a different approach to things. This made sure we covered a lot of bases through our creative design and ticked the boxes needed to produce high quality work.