Staff profile

Overview

Current 

PhD in Natural Flood Management, Durham University 

Past Experience

Senior Environmental Consultant, Waterco 

MSc Distinction in Water Science, Policy & Management, University of Oxford

BSc (Hons) First Class in Geography, Durham University 

Profile

After graduating from my undergraduate degree in Geography at Durham University, I was awarded an MSc (Distinction) at Oxford University in their Water Science, Policy & Management programme. Components of the MSc course included hydrological modelling and water quality evaluation, aligned with a core grounding in qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Outside of academia, I first worked at Arup alongside a team geotechnicians and civil engineers, primarily writing Green and Blue Infrastructure reports for Copeland Borough Council. At the environmental consultancy Waterco, I worked as a Senior Environmental Consultant, first focussing on the fields of flood risk and drainage, before authoring Natural Flood Management reports for local authorities. This work was then used as part of a tender that was awarded over £1 million of funding by the Welsh Government; whereafter I continued to work on the NFM projects across all stages from concept to construction.

Current Research

The functioning and effect of individual Natural Flood Management features have been studied extensively in recent years. However, less is known about how different features work in combination, how far downstream they have an impact and about their cumulative effect on downstream flooding. By managing the timing and contributions from different tributaries, the cumulative effect of several features together may be optimised for the greatest downstream benefit.

However, tributary contributions are often difficult to constrain with common hydrological models used in flood forecasting. Since antecedent conditions and precipitation intensities vary from event to event, different sub-catchments /tributaries may be activated to different degrees during different events. The work I am doing will enable better constraint of sub-catchment contributions to downstream flooding through a combination of fieldwork and modelling, and has the potential to improve model predictions.

Coupled with this work I am also interested in the practical application and wider rollout of NFM interventions beyond pilot sites, particularly on policy and issues of contracting, maintenance and liability.

Awards

·         Royal Geographical Society (£1,000 Award) - Postgraduate Research Award – March 2024

·         Norman Richardson Fund (£1,500 Award) for Postgraduate Research – March 2024

·         Outstanding Contribution by an Individual to College Life (PhD Student) – Ustinov College – June 2023

·         British Hydrological Society – Peter Wolf Symposium – First Prize - Poster Presentation – June 2023

·         IAPETUS - Annual Conference 2023 – Best Poster Presentation – May 2023

Outreach and Volunteering 

President and Trustee – Ustinov College, Durham University (July 2023-July 2014)

Vice-President and Trustee – Ustinov College, Durham University (September 2022-September 2023)

Co-organiser of the ‘Why do volcanoes erupt’ exhibit at the Schools’ Science Festival, Durham University.

Global Week Durham Volunteering Scheme Lead for SPARK 2024 ‘Ustinov Students Providing Access to Research and Knowledge’ presenting to over 300 primary school students between the ages of 7-11, Durham University.

• Climate change
• Cost-effectiveness of NFM interventions; including future maintenance, liability and financing
• Flood forecasting and catchment modelling
• Hydrology
• Internal catchment dynamics: land management impacts on water quantity and quality
• Natural Flood Management, Natural Infrastructure and Nature Based Solutions for flood management
• Research frontier: policies including the Environment Land Management scheme