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.
QUADRAT Sponsors and Partners
Aberdeen City Council
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS)
3DEO
Loughs Agency
Causeway, Coast & Glens Heritage Trust
Northern Ireland Environment Link
CB Dennis Trust
Wildbyte Technologies
Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
National Trust NI
Marine Scotland
Geological Survey NI
SAERI Falklands Limited
The R&A
Aberdeen Harbour Board
Ireland Brownfield Network
BGS
NI Water
Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd
Pacific Seafoods Group
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Crown Estate
Scottish water
Bioversity International
RSPB Scotland
DAERA
Siskin Asset Management
NOAA Fisheries
James Hutton Institute
Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute
Shetland Amenity Trust
National Trust
National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland
SAERI
Belfast City Council
Environment Agency
Ulster Farmers’ Union
Arup
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Mourne Heritage Trust
Ulster Wildlife
NFU Scotland
Botanaeco
Forestry and Land Scotland
RSPB NI
Tilhill Forestry
Syngenta
Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR)
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Historic Environment Scotland
Forest Research Scotland
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar & Marine Research
JNCC
National Trust for Scotland
SEPA