Profile

CV

• Education:

  I was home educated and didn’t go to school. We did a ‘learning through life and following the child’s interests’ philosophy and I was interested in archery and the environment and history and art so I learnt a lot about those topics. We went France on holiday so I learned French and I went to lots of activity groups like scouts, young archeologists and a local art society.

  When I was fourteen I started a degree part time with The Open University which does remote learning. I was interested in lots of different things so I did an Open Degree that let me  do lots of different modules on things that I was interested in like, astronomy, geology, creative writing, sports science and renewable energy engineering. I did the degree part time over 5 years along with continuing my other studies. I did five GSCEs over two years alongside my degree, going into a friendly local school for the exam, but I didn’t bother with A levels.

  After my degree I then did a Masters in military history at the University of Glasgow (because I was considering becoming a historian). However after doing it I decided that while I found it really interesting I wanted to do something that had direct practical benefits for society. I really enjoyed the research during my master’s though so I thought I’d like to do more study and do a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) but in an environmental topic. I also had a joke with my family about how doing a PhD would mean that I was Dr Wise!

  I ended up creating my own PhD topic on carbon reduction from older homes with heritage value which was great as it allowed me to combine the sustainability work with my interest in history! I’m very lucky to be able to continue doing research on topics that are interesting and important to me.

• Qualifications:

  GCSEs in Classical Civilisations, French, Geography, Maths, and English Language.

  First Class Open BSc (Hons) at The Open University

  MLitt in Warstudies with distinction at The University of Glasgow

  PhD on: Carbon Reduction and Heritage Retention: Retrofit approaches for vernacular buildings and their residents at The Open University

• Work History:

  I did a summer job teaching archery with the Lake District National Park (I was already an archery coach but it was nice getting paid for it).

  I designed and ran some summer activities sessions on different history topics for young people at my local museum where I’d been volunteering.

  I was very busy doing archery to a high level before and during my PhD which took up all the spare time around my studies. I did do some summer tutoring for university students on an engineering module with the Open University.

  After my PhD I did a postdoctoral research job at London South Bank University helping to inform a group of local councils’ strategies on carbon reduction from existing buildings.

  I then did another research project on identifying barriers and considering how to increase the take up of heat pump technology (a low carbon heating system) for homes in the UK at The Open University.

  I then wrote an online course to help people reduce carbon from their homes which The Open University will be sharing and I’ve also done some consultancy jobs with Historic England and various commercial companies.

• Current Job:

  At the moment I’m doing a two year research fellowship at the University of the West of England, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. I’m doing more research on carbon reduction from buildings and how buildings will perform in future climate conditions as well as how much different change will cost. I’m also writing lots of papers from my research and working with others interesting in this area to try to achieve real world change by helping develop industry skills and attempting to influence policies.

• Employer:

  I work for the University of the West of England which is based in Bristol. But because of my disability I work remotely from home up in Cumbria and only work part time.