Field of research/work: Chemistry (organic/inorganic)
YTS Years: 2026
Julia's Notable career moments
Asked Why?, What?, How? many times
Had a great science teacher (same one through to 2020!)
Took a gap year to decide whether to go to Uni or not
Worked as a Maths/Science tutor
Studied Maths/Physics/Chemistry at Utas (couldn’t pick one so I did it all!)
Made colourful molecules at Utas (Chemistry Honours)
Making even more colourful molecules at Utas (Chemistry PhD)
About Julia Mountain
Chemistry is cool! Convinced yet? Probably not. Let’s see if I can change your mind.
What is chemistry? It’s a science that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances, blah blah blah. Super boring when defined. In reality, chemistry is everywhere and in everything: autumn leaf colours, popping candy, fireworks, lava lamps, baking, you name it!
Molecules are the pieces you get if you keep breaking things down into tinier and tinier and even tinier pieces. Tinier still than what you’re probably imagining! Chemistry is the study of these molecules: what they look like, how they interact, what they do.
What do I like about chemistry? It’s kind of like the craziest LEGO you’ve ever seen, and I get to build colourful crystals! Now, ever since I was a little kid I’ve always been fascinated with light and colours. That big ball of fire in the sky we call the Sun sends out sunlight and it bounces off and interacts with all the things it touches, including our eyes, which lets us see it. Since light is made up of all the colours, it can be absorbed by colourful things.
The part of chemistry that I really enjoy is when you dissolve colourful crystals and shine light on them to make them do stuff (Kill germs, photosynthesis, make hydrogen gas – rocket fuel!). So, in my chemistry I make colourful molecules and test them to see what they can do!
So, what do you think? Is chemistry cool?
