Mahima Seth

“I completed a BSc(Physics/Geophysics) in 2021, and went on to study Physics with Honours. I felt like studying physics was a way to quantitatively understand the world around me. It also was one of the few majors that could eventually lead to studying astrophysics topics. 

“Environmental Physics interested me because I was interested in the environmental impact of human activity and how the geology of the surface of earth tells us a story about its past. Additionally, New Zealand is a geologically young and active country, so I hoped I would get to go on a lot of field trips and see a lot of these natural phenomena in person. 

“Physics provided me with a solid foundation for learning about the earth, atmosphere, and oceans. I also like that the broad nature of what I study doesn’t restrict me to one industry or job—I feel like I have gained a lot of transferable skills during my study (which aren’t industry specific). 

“I hope my Honours study will lead to jobs in institutions such as NIWA or GNS. Ultimately, I would love to work for NASA, taking the skills I have learnt about the Earth from Environmental Physics and applying them to learning more about other planets! But I would be equally happy to take my skills and perspective to an entirely different industry. I did an internship at PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) in the Digital Forensics team in the summer of 2021/2022. I really enjoyed that and used a lot of the coding skills I learnt in that role.

“I was recently awarded the Dennis Brown Experimental Physics prize for my work in Physics 390 (Experimental Physics). I didn’t really expect to get this and certainly didn’t go in aiming for it. It was nice to be recognized for my work, and the thing that I appreciated the most about it was that my lecturers valued me for more than my grades alone, and this shows the progressive thinking that I think is the core of science itself. 

“I think coming to university was definitely a big change for me after working full time for six years in the Royal New Zealand Airforce. Ultimately, I think I gained a lot more than Physics knowledge from my time here—I learned a lot about myself, my weaknesses, my strengths, and even my academic interests (which I thought I already knew when I started). I felt that if I reached out to my lecturers with a genuine issue, that they would help me and they would understand. This really took a lot of the stress out for me over the last couple of (unpredictable) years.”