Dr Alison Blyth has always been fascinated by the question, \u201cWhat\u2019s underneath?\u201d.<\/p>\n
A research fellow in Curtin\u2019s Departments of Geology and Chemistry, Blyth\u2019s intrigue for understanding what makes up the natural world goes back to when she was a young girl in the UK and would comb the beach for fossils and shells with her grandfather. Blyth says the natural world has always been a part of her life, and this affinity has seen her accrue a wealth of knowledge across fields including geology, chemistry, environmental science, palaeontology and archaeology.<\/p>\n
Blyth\u2019s love for all things science has coexisted with a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects up to one in 5,000 people and alters the body\u2019s ability to produce collagen. For Blyth, this means her connective tissue is too stretchy, causing her joints to easily shift or dislocate. She experiences constant pain and chronic fatigue, and has periods where she uses crutches or a wheelchair because she is unable to walk normally.<\/p>\n
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome can be managed with physiotherapy but there is currently no cure. Blyth\u2019s diagnosis poses obstacles to her pursuit of her research interests, but she explains it has not thwarted them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a set amount of energy and you have to choose what you spend that energy on. I currently spend it largely on my research and teaching work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt impairs some of things you can do. I\u2019m not allowed to do anything that puts undue strain on my joints, so I can\u2019t run, climb, write by hand for long periods or carry heavy objects. Sometimes I can\u2019t walk. But I can do a remarkable amount \u2013 probably far more than able-bodied people expect \u2013 as long as I manage my resources carefully. My diagnosis doesn\u2019t affect my academic ability, my mind as a researcher, nor who I am or how I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a teenager, Blyth was certain she wanted to study archaeology or geology at university, but because of her disability she was able to take only limited subjects at high school, which curtailed her university options.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of my educational background was shaped by disability, because it affected how much I could go to school, and I\u2019m old enough to be of a time when people could actually say, \u2018No, we\u2019re not taking you for the subject because of this\u2019, which is just something that wouldn\u2019t happen now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Despite obstacles to her education, Blyth completed undergraduate, masters and PhD programs, and has forged a successful and varied career as a researcher in geochemistry, including being awarded a research fellowship at the University of Cambridge in 2007.<\/p>\n
Blyth moved to Australia on an AINSE Research Fellowship in 2012 and is now based in Curtin\u2019s Department of Applied Geology. She is a member of the Organic Isotope Geochemistry node of The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), and works with ecologists from the Department of Environment and Agriculture. Her work uses geochemical techniques to find out how Australia\u2019s environments and ecosystems respond to climatic and human pressures. She is also the current unit co-ordinator and lecturer for Geoscience, Environment and Society, and contributes as a project supervisor to the geology and chemistry honours programs.<\/p>\n
Blyth says the obstacles she experienced in her early years as a student have given her better insight into what it can be like for today\u2019s students who have a medical condition or disability. She wants to make sure these students get the help they need to achieve their academic goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a teaching point of view, it has given me empathy and insight into what these students need, how they experience university life and how they want to experience it, and what obstacles are preventing that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n