Hi, my name is Sinéad, I am part of Cohort 6 and have just started my PhD at Queen’s University Belfast in the school of Archaeology and Paleoecology. I will be investigating tephra (volcanic ash) that has been preserved in the Fletcher ice core, collected from West Antarctica. I grew up in Newcastle, Co. Down, a long way from any volcanoes or ice shelves. However, I was fortunate to grow up and travel in Ireland where you’re never too far away from a unique landscape, from the granite Mourne Mountains situated right on the coast of Newcastle, the striking Atlantic coast in West Cork where I would spend most summers or the North Coast and Donegal hills (I could go on…). From this, I developed a keen interest in the outdoors, nature and our impact on the planet.
For my undergraduate degree, I wanted to study a subject that covered a broad range of topics as I had enjoyed various aspects of my A-Levels and was not sure which direction I wanted to go in. I decided that the scope that Geography had would allow me to continue to follow the varied topics that I enjoyed, while also giving me the opportunity to work in a scientific field.
As I progressed through my studies, I knew that I wanted to continue to learn in an academic environment and in my final year I jumped at the opportunity to be able to take on a research project of my own. This allowed me to incorporate the aspects of the degree that I had enjoyed with a research question of my own. This led to long hours in the field and even longer hours in the lab investigating the micro-geomorphology of my local beach system (in other words; sand). Though I may have bored my friends by talking about getting back to my sand samples in the lab, I wanted to continue to work in the field of research and help improve our understanding of how the planet functions, even at such a small scale.
I am excited to take on the challenge of an independent research project and continue to learn about our planet.
