Women in Fusion Profile: Naomi Scott-Mearns

To celebrate International Women's Day, Fusion Energy Insights highlight some of the women who work in the fusion industry to find out more about their work and career paths.

Naomi Scott-Mearns is the Waste Innovation Science and Research Team Leader at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Naomi also works part-time for Fusion Energy Insights as the Membership Project Manager.

1. What area in fusion do you work on?

At UKAEA, I work on minimising the waste footprint from fusion. I research ways of treating, storing, recycling, reusing and disposing fusion wastes.

At Fusion Energy Insights as the Membership Project Manager, I help to coordinate all the outputs to the members, which includes the Quarterly magazine, weekly Fusion Energy Insider newsletter and exclusive events.

2. Can you tell us about your career path and how it led to fusion?

I studied Geography then did a master’s degree in Environmental Sustainability. I was always fascinated by how to manage humanity’s impact on the globe and I wanted to work in sustainability. When I first started working, I decided that I would only choose jobs that I believed actually had a positive impact on the environment and helped to fight climate change.

I didn’t follow a direct route into working in fusion. I worked as a Sustainability Consultant for a large real estate company looking at minimising corporate carbon footprints and I was a programme manager for the implementation mechanism of sustainable consumption and production under Sustainable Development Goal 12. I was inspired to apply to UKAEA as I saw fusion as an important part of the energy transition and I also wanted to ensure that fusion itself minimised its impact on the environment through reducing the production of waste. I started working for UKAEA in 2020 and in the summer of 2023 started working at Fusion Energy Insights.

Naomi at the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

3. Can you share your most exciting fusion moment?

In just my 3.5 years in the fusion industry, it’s been really exciting to watch the industry grow, public and private support increase, and interest in the energy source spread.

4. Any advice for others looking to get into fusion?

You don’t have to come from a purely science background to work in fusion. The fusion industry needs a wealth of skills and the supply chain of fusion needs to grow to support the growth of the industry globally – for that, people with a range of skills are needed. If you’ve studied physics – great – but we also need people who have studied procurement, geography, politics and more!

5. Share something about yourself and what you do outside of work.

I love animals and being outside. My favourite animal is a giraffe – I’ve seen them a few times in the wild, but they (unfortunately) don’t make good pets, so I stick with my 2 cats and 2 dogs for animal love at home. My weekends are spent doing long walks in the countryside in the north of England with my partner and dogs. I also enjoy cooking and trying out new vegetarian recipes.

Naomi with her partner and their dogs

You can find Naomi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-scott-mearns-795b6194