After graduating from Downing College, University of Cambridge, with a first-class degree in Natural Sciences, Buffy worked at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in public engagement and science communication. Alongside, she supervised several Natural Sciences subjects including Biology of Cells and Cell and Developmental Biology, and has been an assessor for Natural Sciences Tripos exams.
Since 2017, Buffy has held the position of Bye-Fellow in Writing Skills at Downing College, where she provides study skills support to individuals and groups of undergraduate students studying a range of biological science subjects. Buffy runs seminars on essay writing, data presentation and scientific report writing, and small-group sessions on scientific paper reading and data interpretation. Her teaching is designed to be highly interactive, built around student-led exploration of example material, small group tasks, and questions and discussion at the whole-group level. She also offers one-to-one study skills sessions, including supporting students with specific learning differences. These sessions are tailored to students’ needs and include guidance on time management, construction of effective and achievable revision plans, implementation of revision strategies, note-taking, essay planning and writing. In addition, Buffy is now a lecturer on the ICE Pre-Medical Studies course. Buffy is committed to equipping students with transferable skills to take forward into their studies and careers beyond. Buffy hugely enjoys her teaching roles – particularly the stimulating, stretching energy of working with adult students, and the joy of seeing students grow and flourish.
Alongside her teaching responsibilities, Buffy is undertaking a PhD in the Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, with her research looking at the role of adhesion to the basement membrane in regulating intestinal stem cell proliferation using Drosophila as a model organism.
