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