With a BSc in Geography and a MSc in Environmental Conservation, I set off to start what was going to turn into a 10 year career in wildlife conservation. Over the last few years I have worked as a conservation ecologist, monitoring the impact the UK’s first introduced wild bison have on a semi-natural ancient woodland in Southeast England. Whilst I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my job and felt like it was a meaningful use of my time and skills, geography kept calling me back and I finally decided to return to ‘my roots’.
My Quadrat project is going to focus on identifying, sampling and dating late glacial moraines and erratics in many sites across the Sierra Nevada in California to provide a geographically comprehensive chronology of palaeoglacier dynamics. While the palaeo-glacier and palaeo-climate record is relatively well known for the last glacial maximum (LGM) in the Sierra Nevada, far less is understood on the changes that followed during the deglaciation. I am very excited to focus my research on this area, answer some questions around the Sierra Nevada deglaciation, work with world leading researchers in the field of glaciology, and of course get stuck into my fieldwork.
Outside of research I am a keen hiker and can’t wait to explore the countryside around Aberdeen. I also enjoy yoga and pottery to calm my mind and find some peace and quiet amidst our everyday rush.
