Projects

I am working with the Tamara Landscape Partnership and the branch of the Environment Agency that is tasked to clean up rivers polluted by abandoned metal mines (WAMM) on an exciting new project that will improve the water quality of Luckett Stream and the Tamar River in Cornwall.

Over 25 years of research of sources, pathways and fates of metals and metalloids at legacy mine sites in Spain, France and Southwest England equip me to contribute to the project with an evaluation of the environmental status at New Great Consols Mine and options for remedial work that prevent deterioration of this scheduled monument and UNESCO World Heritage Site, while enhancing the environmental quality of the river.

The project is delivered in phases over several years from Autumn 2022, involve community groups and other stakeholders and its success will be monitored and evaluated as a pilot to learn from for remediating other mine sites in the area.

On Thursday, 5 Aug 2022, seven students of Lipson Co-operative Academy will join youngsters from Cumbria and Germany on the Pelican of London for a 14-day adventure of sail training and ocean science. As with all Seas Your Future programmes, it will be all about providing personal, skills and career development opportunities.

What’s so special about this?

The teenagers are the first to be sponsored to board the tall ship by a private individual, who wants to give young people from under-represented groups or disadvantaged background a chance to experience something extraordinary.

In fact it is so special that Yachting Monthly has written an article about it!

And he wants to grow the project by inviting you to sponsor a youngster for next year’s voyage out of Plymouth. Contact aboardatallship@gmail.com for more information…

Sail training is about personal development and a number of pilot projects over the past few years showed that sail training is also a fantastic opportunity for raising aspirations and opening insights into a wide range of careers. What started with an ocean science voyage called ‘Sea the Future‘ and continued with two circumnavigations of the British Isles with Darwin200 (2020, 2021) has developed into an ocean science strategy that is firmly embedded into the Development Plan of Seas Your Future, which I am, as Head of Science , creating and implementing. The year 2022 has started with a highly successful trial of the Scientist in Residence concept in Costa Rica and I have recruited 10 more Scientist in Residence to carry out their research projects and undertake citizen science with young people on board during the whole of the summer programme. I am looking forward to delivering my new STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) curriculum for Seas Your Future, on a Sail Training Ireland voyage.

The carbon footprint of the Antarctic Quest 21 expedition is of concern as the main aim of it is data generation for climate and pollution science! To minimise their footprint, the team has borrowed some of the expedition equipment, rather than buying new, and used a ship of opportunity for transporting their kit to Antarctica.
However, the footprint of travel, internet use and communication, additional dietary requirement while on the ice, and some new equipment and expedition clothing, is substantial.
I am calculating the carbon footprint of all these elements, so that Antarctic Quest 21 can mitigate through carbon offset. We have chosen the Mai Ndombe Forest Protection project of Earthly for the first 20 tonnes.
Update in August 2022: the final 30 tonnes of CO2e have been offset!!! Read more HERE.

I created a programme of citizen science work for young people aboard the tall ship Pelican of London for their 2021 circumnavigation of the British Isles with Darwin200.com.
The scientific data will be used by organisations, such as the Sea Watch Foundation, Marine Conservation Society, Marine Biological Association and British Trust for Ornithology for the conservation of ecosystems and species, campaigns for their protection and for scientific research into climate change adaptations in the natural world.

In 2020, global circumnavigation plans of Darwin200.com were shattered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, they partnered with Seas Your Future to undertake a 7-week circumnavigation of the British Isles aboard the tall ship Pelican of London.

My collaboration with Seas Your Future had started in 2018 and I was very happy being approached by their CEO Adrian Ragbourne with the request to put together a scientific programme for this voyage.

Time was extremely short. I put the final touches on the environment and ocean science handbook in the early morning hours before it had to go into print.

Encouraging young people to be curious and explore nature is a wonderful way to learning. Doing this with a team of equally enthusiastic colleagues and professional crew while sailing a tall ship through seas teaming with life – from bioluminescent marine algae to dolphins – is something truly memorable.

It all started with the idea that we environmental scientists are driving change in all areas – conservation and sustainability, mind-set and behaviour.

Effective leaders are thriving individuals with a clear understanding of communication and team work, who operate with confidence and integrity.

In the first instance, this developed into the project ‘Environmental Issues and Communication’, a module my colleague Dr Alison Stokes and I developed for our BSc Environmental Science course at the University of Plymouth.

Teaching science communication at undergraduate level and encouraging my students of BSc Environmental Science to write evidence-based scientific stories on blogs and other social media as counter-action to all the populist semi- and un-truths and misleading information out there, has made me realise that I need to set a positive example.

Graduates of our BSc Environmental Science course at the University of Plymouth are known in the environmental sector for their ability to apply solid knowledge and a wide range of practical skills to their jobs. Of course, this is the result of providing plenty of opportunity to acquire both and for me, there is no better and more rewarding way to facilitate learning than a residential field course.