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

RSPB NI

Northern Ireland Environment Link

NFU Scotland

Scottish water

Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

National Trust for Scotland

Forest Research Scotland

Geological Survey NI

Aberdeen City Council

RSPB Scotland

Ulster Farmers’ Union

BGS

DAERA

NOAA Fisheries

Northern Ireland Environment Agency

Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute

The Crown Estate

Arup

National Trust

National Trust NI

Marine Scotland

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Syngenta

Ulster Wildlife

James Hutton Institute

Botanaeco

NI Water

3DEO

SAERI

Forestry and Land Scotland

Tilhill Forestry

Pacific Seafoods Group

Historic Environment Scotland

Shetland Amenity Trust

Environment Agency

Aberdeen Harbour Board

Causeway, Coast & Glens Heritage Trust

Volcanic Basin Petroleum Research

Belfast City Council

SEPA

Wildbyte Technologies

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

JNCC

National Biodiversity Data Centre Ireland

Bioversity International

SAERI Falklands Limited

CB Dennis Trust

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS)

The R&A

Siskin Asset Management

Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar & Marine Research

Loughs Agency

Mourne Heritage Trust

Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR)

Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd

Ireland Brownfield Network