Lois Sands feels some ‘don’t her take her seriously’ because of how she talks
Lois Sands recently travelled to Thailand for work(Image: Lois Sands)
A woman who says she faces criticism for having a Scouse accent is determined to prove people wrong. Lois Sands, 26, from Croxteth, is a scientist whose studies have taken her across the world researching diseases.
Lois is about to graduate with a masters degree in microbiology from the University of Liverpool. As part of her degree, she worked at a tropical disease lab in Thailand on liver fluke research, which is a parasite that can infect humans and cause liver and bile duct disease.
As many as 700 million people worldwide are at risk of infection by liver flukes. Infections are endemic in the Far East, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Lois recently started sharing her experience and explaining the science behind what she was doing, gaining over 2m views collectively on her series.
But while many experts have praised her for breaking down complex topics, Lois says others have reminded her of the barriers that working-class Scousers face in the industry.
Speaking to the ECHO, Lois said: ”Some people don’t really take you that seriously just because of how you talk. I’ve even had that on my TikTok.
“I’ve had messages and comments where people say, ‘oh, this is a really good video, but I can’t take you seriously with that accent.’ Or, ‘this is really good, but I wish you weren’t Scouse’. You’re instantly getting dismissed, no matter what you are saying. I’ve noticed that a lot.”
Lois has been interested in science from a young age(Image: Supplied)
Lois added there are other challenges she has faced in the field. She said: “It’s just a bit harder to get into it if you don’t know anyone. If you have parents or siblings who’ve done it, it’s very easy to understand the route you can go down.
“Another thing I’ve found challenging is, even though I go to university in my home city, I don’t know anyone else from Liverpool on my course.”
Nevertheless, Lois is determined to continue showcasing her work as someone who didn’t particularly enjoy science lessons in school. She said: “There’s a lot of jargon. I used to come home and want to explain to my family what I learned, but I’d have to find other ways to do it.
“I thought, everyone’s missing out on all these interesting things about how your body works and other things like that, so that’s why I started the page.”
Lois began posting during lockdown after pitching the idea for a TikTok channel for a university business competition. While it was put on the back burner during her studies, she picked it up again when she moved to Thailand.
She said: “I thought this was a really good opportunity. I shared travel clips because it’s a good way of engaging a different audience. Most people, if they see a science video, they’ll think, ‘I’m not interested in that’ and scroll away. So I tried to combine the travel aspect with the science that I was doing, and so far I’ve had a really good response.”
Lois combined science with travel content(Image: Supplied)
Liver fluke is often spread through fish. Lois’ research involves studying the proteins released when people are infected as well as raising awareness about the infection in local communities.
Going forward, her goal is to start a science communication page as soon as she graduates and continue to combine science and social media.
She said: “As well as engaging with an audience that wouldn’t typically be interested in science, I also want to show all young people that we are clever enough and can do these type of things.
“My family have always been so proud and supportive of me, especially my grandad who sadly passed away when I first started university.
“I’m graduating this summer, it feels like I’m getting to the finish line. I feel excited for the future just because of the response I’ve had so far and I’m only really just getting started. I think there’s big things coming.” You can find out more about the work Lois does here.