Profile

I live in the Cotswolds with my partner and work in Bristol. We live with our 8 month old puppy, Willow, who is the happiest dog I’ve ever met! When I’m not working I love to be outside and particular enjoy getting out on my paddle board on our local canal. I also love wild swimming, running and yoga. We have a small campervan and which we love going on adventures in, especially to the beach or the mountains! We have a small garden and I’m really enjoying  growing our own vegetables too!

Paddle boarding on our local canal

Our puppy Willow 🙂

I’m really interested in the smallest marine life, bacteria and phytoplankton. These tiny plankton can only be seen with a microscope but live throughout our oceans. They’re really important as the base of the food chain in the oceans and for producing important gases like oxygen. They play an important part in our oceans but also impact on our climate and help to reduce the impacts of climate change.

Conducting experiments on plankton communities to see how they will respond to climate change.

My main research has been investigating what these microbes do in seawater and how this impacts our atmosphere and climate. I investigate these questions with other scientists by collecting water samples whilst on a large research vessel. We can then conduct experiments on the water samples to find out what the plankton are doing and what impact this might have on the wider ecosystem and atmosphere.

One of our research ships the RRS James Clark Ross, now replaced by the RRS Sir David Attenborough aka Boaty Mc Boat Face

On a recent expedition we went to the Arctic, near Greenland and Svalbard, to collect water samples in the sea ice to find out how these plankton might respond to the impacts of climate change. We were specifically interested in how they might respond to changes in temperature and pH. Whilst we were there we saw a polar bear too!

When I’m not living on a ship doing research I teach University students in Bristol. I mainly teach study marine science and oceanography but also sustainability.

Getting my waders on for a fishing survey with the students

Teaching my students how to do Seine net fish surveys in Cornwall

When we’re at sea our days revolve mostly around sampling the water and meal times. Sampling usually starts before the sun comes up (and before breakfast!), after we’ve collected samples and done some lab work, it’s time for breakfast. After breakfast we get straight back in the lab to continue analysing samples or running experiments, with a quick break for lunch and a cup of tea out on deck we’ll be in the lab until dinner time. After dinner there’s time for a quick shower or trip to the gym then it’s off to the bar for a drink before bedtime. We tend to get between 2-5hours sleep a night depending on the experiments we’re doing.

If I’m on land my day looks very different! I wake up in my own bed at home and walk my dog Willow. I either go into the office or work at home. My days are vary changeable so I can end up doing all sorts throughout the day. I’ll teach students in the lab, outside or in a classroom/lecture theatre, I might meet students 1:1 to discuss their work or projects. I’ll have meetings about research projects or look over papers we’re writing. I might be doing an open day for new potential students and telling them about our degree course. Sometimes I have to do boring paperwork too (boo!) but I always have a cup of tea and some music to help 🙂