Dr Lucy Foulkes is a Research Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, where she conducts research looking at teenage mental health, and particularly the possible negative consequences of increased public mental health awareness. She's also recently published her second popular science book, titled "Coming of age: How adolescence shapes us". 

In this episode, Lucy talks to us about feeling lost as an early career researcher, the challenge of failing to win an early career fellowship and feeling like she'd missed the boat as a result. She tells us about her decision to leave academia and write her first popular science book 'What mental illness really is', before making the unusual step of returning to research once again. We cover the importance of good science communication, the role of luck and serendipity in her career, and much more…