Hi my name is Louise Smith and I am an upcoming PhD student with QUADRAT. I will be based at Aberdeen University within the School of Geosciences. I did both my undergrad and my postgrad in Germany to save on tuition fees. My undergrad was a BSc in Environmental and Resource Management at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. During my undergrad I discovered a great interest in Ecology and corresponding fields such as conservation. My thesis was on the effects of microplastics on bivalves. Therefore, I did my postgrad in Ecology at the University of Bremen where I conducted several research projects into coastal plant conservation and biodiversity. I have been interested in historical ecology since my postgrad. The information that we can gain within this field is endless and it can help us to fill in gaps in our biodiversity knowledge as well as inform future conservation projects. The severe decline in biodiversity globally needs to be addressed. My project will hopefully show how humans have influenced the landscape hundreds of years ago and what ecosystem changes have originated from this. Additionally, it might establish a framework of how to identify landscape changes which have originated from undocumented post-medieval colonies.

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