News, Outreach, and Engagement

*Regular updates, watch this space!* – Keep an eye out on twitter for notifications of updates.

Presentations, Talks, and Events (2021)

Since June 2021, I have been attending numerous events to present my preliminary research findings, including the Summer Graduate School at the University of Cumbria, the Brampton Café Scientifique group, and the ECO-I-NW COP26 event. I have received valued feedback on my project over the past 6-months and gained some highly regarded contacts.

Here is a link to my most recent talk presented at the ECO-I-NW COP26 Focussed Event as part of the Nature Based Solutions to Climate Change breakout room on the 20th of October 2021. Please note that the file must be downloaded to watch using the download icon in the top right corner of the screen (3rd icon to the left of ‘Sign in’).

Please get in touch through the Get in Contact page with any feedback or questions regarding the talk!

Making Progress

As we move out of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been fortunate enough to begin undertaking site visits (see Site Gallery Page). For example, on the 6th of May 2021 I visited Bolton Fell Moss, a 400 ha restored peatland extraction site. The site contains 280ha M18 Active Bog, 123 ha M17 Degraded Bog, and 53.65 ha Lagg & Rand habitats. As part of the Cumbrian Bogs LIFE+ project (2011-2019), the site has been divided into 11 distinct areas and treated with a variety of restoration techniques.

From visiting the site, I have rapidly learnt peatland restoration is not straight forward. Restoration has to sometimes take a ‘best outcome’ approach. Furthermore, ecology is tremendously impactful on restoration work; nesting birds need to be monitored and located to consider the pathing of machinery.

I have now shifted the focus of my PhD towards what I want to identify from my core samples and which sites would be most appropriate to take samples from. The outputs from my cores should be easy to monitor so they can provide early feedback on the performance of restoration work and inform policy.