Conversation with...Nic Taylor

This weekend I will...
We’re seeing a musical, Sweeney Todd, in a community theatre that we found. My partner and I have a jar of date ideas that we write at the start of the year and then pull from every couple of weeks and one of them was go find a musical. So, Sweeney Todd is our completion of that.

I wish I’d never…
That’s a fantastic question. There are a whole labyrinth of embarrassing moments throughout my life. But I am one of those people who think you are shaped by your experiences and you are where you are at because of them, so I don't really have an answer to that.

I'll never forget...
Career-wise, getting into my PhD and into research has been eye-opening on many levels. I remember the first time that I went to a nightclub for research – I saw a fight break out – but just seeing things from a completely different perspective, and there’s been a few different times where that has come up. For example, the illicit alcohol work we’re doing at the moment. I will never forget the first bottle that I saw on the shelf. I couldn't believe it, it was like a golden goose. There are just some really eye-opening moments in this line of work where, if you are an active field worker or you’re talking to people with lived experience, that change your perspective.

I'd originally planned to work...
Like everyone who does a psychology degree, I originally planned to become a psychologist. But along the way, I found that I was not good at or not really interested in the counselling units but I really liked the research units. It was just such an obvious fit at the end of the day. What drove me to do a psychology degree on some level was this need to understand people – I guess I just found a better way to answer those questions through research.

The qualities I most value in my colleagues are...
Caring about the outcomes. You never want to feel like you’re the only one who is invested and I’m lucky in that I would say almost all of my colleagues do care. We care about the impact of our research, we care about the process, we care about asking questions and, to be a little bit optimistic, changing the world for the better. It’s not just 9 to 5, it’s a pursuit.

If I had more time...
I would probably embrace a few more of my hobbies and things that I do outside of work. I am very passionate about my work, but I am at my best after time away. You have to give yourself an opportunity to miss doing the work, so if I had more time, pursuing my hobbies. The main one I'm really into at the moment is painting little miniatures. And spending time with my partner, maybe we’d get a bigger date jar.

I'm most scared of...  
Failure. I think like a lot of researchers, I have this existential dread that I will make no impact on the world and it will all have been for nothing. I think the longer I do this, the more I grow to the reality that it isn’t all for nothing. There are people who do find my work useful and interesting. Not every paper is going to completely change the world but the work is meaningful in and of itself.

For my next holiday...
My partner and I are actually going to get married in Hobbiton next year in New Zealand. And in a couple of weeks, we're going to check out everything and spend a bit of time enjoying the North Island.

I’m most looking forward to…
Our wedding. It’s going to be wonderful. It’s really exciting to think about just having this full day dedicated to me and my partner and our love – and just being able to spend that with all our friends and family.

I'm really terrible at...
Lots of things. Hand-eye coordination. In part, I’m painting to improve my hand-eye coordination and I am using chopsticks to eat to improve my ability to do fine motor movements. I am genuinely terrible at that. I’m terrible too at knowing when to say no to opportunities. It’s very easy to say yes to everyone and then become overwhelmed but I’m getting better at saying no.

Career wise, I’m most proud of...
Seeing both of my PhD students present at the Kettil Bruun Society annual symposium in Lithuania. There were moments for both of them where they were answering questions from the audience that I hadn’t considered and they gave such beautiful, well-articulated and profoundly excellent answers. It was just a real moment of pride. To see them succeed has been more rewarding than I ever anticipated.

My goal for 2026/2027 is...
To build on the illicit alcohol work we’re doing, to produce some big papers from that, and to also get an ongoing research stream in that space. I think it’s important for a few reasons, but probably the most important to me is that I feel the way we monitor the sale of alcohol in Australia is three decades behind where it should be and that, fundamentally, a lot of the problems that we see in alcohol comes back to that issue.

The sector's biggest challenge going forward is...
Effective monitoring of alcohol sales. I think it is a fundamental gap in how we research alcohol in Australia and we need to address it as a point of urgency. There are some unique challenges in Australia, particularly the hold the alcohol industry has over access to data is just remarkable. But there are also some good things going for Australia. We have an engaged government and we have some good infrastructure, so it’s just about capitalising on that.

My big hope for the drug and alcohol sector is...
Security for every drug and alcohol researchers’ job. I've been writing an MRFF application that has consumer involvement and a lot of grants and opportunities are moving towards this consumer involvement model. I’ve seen these really profound stories and insights from people who have had experiences and are aware of things I have not been aware of as a researcher. And it’s been rewarding to see that this was encouraged by a change to the system. The fact that the scheme for getting funding requires this means that consumers and their unique insights became part of the story. I am the exact kind of researcher where the system does need to change. A lot of my work is data-driven and 10 or 12 steps away from consumers themselves, but I hope we see funding and engagement move more in this direction. I would love to see more involvement with consumers and the people who are going to be impacted by our research and, in some respect, have the most to gain from our research. But importantly, it needs to be built into systems to make it happen.

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