The FRESH CDT training programme got underway with an induction week of talks and team building exercises in Wales from 14/10/19 – 21/10/19. The itinerary was split into two halves, with the first half of the week spent in the Water Research Institute at Cardiff University and the second half spent in the water rich Brecon Beacons National Park. We were very lucky to have such a fantastic array of guest speakers talk to us about a diverse range of challenges and progress being made in the water sector. This was also the first time the cohort of students had all met together and it was great to have everyone in the same boat and find out more about our respective projects and also to form valuable bonds of friendship. Overall, I found the week very motivational. It helped to put my PhD project into context and it also made me realise the vast multitude of disciplines required to tackle the challenges of the freshwater sector. I had a lot of fun with the cohort of students and I look forward to seeing them again for our next programme of training at Bristol University in a weeks time.
The week began at Cardiff International White Water (CIWW) for a team building ice breaker. CIWW hosts a large outdoor white water rafting course in Cardiff Bay. The weather was miserable, and I could see a lot of hesitant faces around me knowing that they had to climb into a damp wetsuit. However, that was all “water under the bridge” when we got to the first drop and our instructor yelled “get down” as we plunged into the start of the course. From then on it was a constant scrambling of the oars and a fight to stay dry as we swirled down and around the rapids. Of course, it wasn’t long before we were all soaked. Especially as our instructor took great pleasure in steering us back into the waves of water. A personal highlight of mine was re-enacting the Titanic scene with Chris as the raft slowly filled up with water – Chris was very quick to volunteer as Rose. The day was rounded off well as the cohort of students spent dinner at Tiny Rebel in Cardiff and made full use of the bar tab on beers.
The first evenings sleep went less swimmingly though…my bed was quite uncomfortable and we were accompanied in our hostel by a large group of younger students who were in a party mood, so little sleep was had. After dislodging a few mattress springs from my back and inhaling a cup of coffee to treat the lack of sleep, we made our way to the Water Research Institute to begin our second day.
Plastic is everywhere in our environment now and like most global issues, it will require all stakeholders (e.g researchers, government, entrepreneurs) to work together to solve a problem that could well define our era of mankind, along with climate destruction.
Today we had two guest speakers – one from Natural Resources Wales and one from DCWW Welsh Water. I found the talk from DCWW very insightful, particularly around their Brecon Beacons Mega Catchment strategy. It was great to see such a wholistic approach being applied to a sector that depends on so many natural and stakeholder interactions. In the evening we met the 2nd year cohort and chatted to them over pizza about their experiences so far. This then culminated in a university organised film event on “Plastic pollution: From Research to Everyday Life” with a panel of guest speakers to answer any questions at the end. Plastic is everywhere in our environment now and like most global issues, it will require all stakeholders (e.g researchers, government, entrepreneurs) to work together to solve a problem that could well define our era of mankind, along with climate destruction.
The rest of the programme included talks from such a diverse array of areas and perspectives e.g Welsh government, farming communities, Wye & Usk Foundation, RSPB, Brecon Beacons National Park and others. For me, as a Biochemical Engineer, it was a breath of fresh air to hear these different perspectives and it reaffirmed that this is absolutely the right field of work for me to build a career on. It was also useful to hear about the specific challenges that are being faced in our freshwater environment. For example, the agricultural industry is enormously interlinked with the health of our freshwater ecosystems. Our speaker from the Wye & Usk foundation spoke a lot about how poor agricultural practices (top soil depletion, overreliance on pesticides, slurry management) has led directly to negative impacts on our environment and a depletion in wildlife numbers. However, he juxtaposed that by saying that farmers who have started to take better care of their soils are seeing increased yields and more nutrient rich produce. Therefore, it is possible to seek solutions that benefit all stakeholders as well as the environment, as long as all parties are engaged in the process. This is vital for future progress in this field.
For me, as a Biochemical Engineer, it was a breath of fresh air to hear these different perspectives and it reaffirmed that this is absolutely the right field of work for me to build a career on.
During the course of the week, we all got the chance to present our projects to each other to help gain a bit of insight into what each of us will be working on. I think all ears pricked up when Kye gave his talk on The Impacts of Beaver Reintroduction on Aquatic Ecology. Dam it was interesting (sorry)!! It did make me think though – why do we spend thousands/millions altering the environment for flood defences for example, when we could get a free nature-based solution from beavers that may also benefit the wider ecology of the area?
The latter half of the week was spent at a YHA in the Brecon Beacons, which surprisingly stayed dry for the most part. I think our cohort will be unanimous in agreeing that this part was the highlight of the week. Here we were accompanied by Prof. Steve Ormerod, a leading freshwater ecologist, who took us out in the field where we did some freshwater invertebrate kick sampling. This was all very new to me, but very useful in broadening my wider understanding – and it was fun!! We were very lucky to be in the company of Steve all weekend, as he has so much knowledge to impart. One of the talks he gave to us was on the importance of conveying your research and ideas to a wider audience and in particular the general public. This is crucial step in making sure your work has a real-world impact. Steve also likes rugby, so I was very thankful he gave us the morning off to watch the World Cup quarter-final games.
Spending a long weekend in the Brecon Beacons gave us plenty of time to really bond as a cohort. It all kicked off when Kosta got us playing a game that involved moving around the dining room table and sitting on each other’s laps – if that isn’t an ice breaker I don’t know what is. Then I somehow found myself being referred to as the entertainment master, as I introduced everyone to Werewolves – a murder mystery style game. The next night I also made a pub quiz for everyone to do, with a special “Love Actually” themed round at the request of Hebe. In hindsight the questions were pretty challenging, but it certainly stoked a healthy amount of competition between the three teams.
Special thanks has to be made to the GW4 FRESH staff that made all of this possible, along with all of the guest speakers and Prof. Steve Ormerod. It was a great week and I look forward to our training at Bristol University starting on 4/11/19.
PhD Life - Watered Down 