Alex King has recently joined the team as a PhD Student. Below Alex shares a bit on her background and her work:
Tell us a bit about your background?
I studied biology at Cardiff University and have worked since within the environment and conservation sector. My specialism lies in freshwater ecology and crayfish. I worked as UK conservation officer for the native species department at Bristol Zoo which worked to protect native species with a focus on a white clawed crayfish breeding and reintroduction programme. Here, I had the opportunity to attend an international crayfish conference and through networking was offered a job working on a nationwide project researching crayfish eDNA with the coordination centre for crayfish based at a University (FHNW) in Basel. I worked in Switzerland for three years on many research projects and gained experience and knowledge in a wide range of topics.
What inspired you to focus on your area?
Throughout my time working in Switzerland, I gained a great love for research. I participated in a microplastic project which developed my interest within this area. After moving back to the UK, I actively sought a job researching microplastics and was lucky enough to be offered a PhD at UWE Bristol investigating airborne microplastics.
Can you tell us what you’re currently working on?
I began my PhD in April this year, so it is still in the early days, but my PhD aims to create a large, harmonised database of characterised airborne microplastics with comparative validation using a nationwide citizen science laboratory and field study and Welsh air quality monitoring systems to provide policy recommendations for key stakeholders. The PhD is partly funded by the Welsh government so I hope that my PhD can be highly influential in reducing airborne microplastics and improving air quality.
What are your future plans?
I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I have always tried to make the most of any opportunities I get so if offered the chance to continue research I would love to do so. I thoroughly enjoy the working environment within academia and the responsibility of seeing the ‘full life cycle’ of a project from start through to completion.