Our Alumni
Fellows
An integral part of the Edinburgh Earth Initiative community, Earth Fellows are undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students at the University of Edinburgh who work on impactful, short term, paid climate, environment and sustainability related projects and research. Meet our alumni.
Chiara Aquino

Advanced Earth Fellow: UNCOVER
October-December 2022
Chiara has recently submitted her PhD thesis in Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and is currently awaiting her Viva. Her PhD focuses on mapping forest degradation in the tropics as a result of selective logging. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she led the UNCOVER project developing new evidence-based reviews linking climate change and health and building a community of researchers at the university at the intersection of climate and health.
Eloise Bevan

Advanced Earth Fellow: Low Voltage Living
February-July 2023
Eloise is a PhD student in Chemical Engineering. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she worked with Dr Arno Verhoeven in the School of Design on the Low Voltage Living project, working in a team to deliver workshops with researchers to challenge predominant sociotechnical narratives regarding social behaviour, technical emancipation and the role of critical infrastructures in energy production, storage and distribution.
Alys Daniels-Creasey

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Project Support
October 2022-May 2023
Alys is a postgraduate student studying a Masters by research in Health Humanities and Arts. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Fossil-Fuel.Ed, Adapt.Ed and Climate & Health projects, as well as our climate justice work.
Grace Garland

Advanced Earth Fellow: Climate Justice
February-July 2023
Grace is a PhD student researching ‘Biodiversity vs Humans in the Ecological Crisis: Trade-offs, Interests, and Horizons of Solidarity’. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she worked with the Edinburgh Earth Initiative and partners to develop a Climate Justice manifesto for the University of Edinburgh.
Rebecca Grant

Advanced Earth Fellow: Climate Vulnerabilities
November 2022-May 2023
Rebecca is a PhD researcher in the School of GeoSciences. Her research examines opportunities, risks and barriers to a just transition to renewable energy driven electrification in Rwanda. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she worked with the UNHCR to develop a Climate Vulnerability Index to examine the impacts of climate change on refugee populations in Jordan.
Laura Higham
Advanced Earth Fellow: Regenerative Agriculture
March-July 2023
Laura is a PhD student at the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems studying antimicrobial use and animal welfare in agricultural supply chains, with a particular interest in actionable sustainability solutions in food supply chains. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she worked with the Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability to carry out an analysis of introducing regenerative agriculture into the food systems at the University of Edinburgh.
Henry Ibitolu

Advanced Earth Fellow: Earth Data Hub
June 2022-January 2023
Henry Ibitolu is a PhD in Future Cities Engineering. PhD Topic – ” Towards mitigating urban warming and building energy-use with sustainable earthen materials: A multi-scale analysis”. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, he led the foundational work for our Earth Data Hub project to create a public facing interface of the University of Edinburgh’s earth data.
Sofie Illemann Jaeger

Advanced Earth Fellow
October 2022-July 2023
Sofie is a PhD candidate in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies. Her current research looks at different formats for public engagement with climate change discourse and policy-making with particular interest in environmental sociology, public engagement, deliberative democracy, AI & Society and climate activism. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she led both the continuing work on the Fossil-Fuel.Ed work and supported Dr Annette Davison in developing a community of researchers connected to climate, energy and audio-visual media.
Dzaui Jansen

Earth Fellow
June-July 2022
Dzaui Jansen is a 4th year undergraduate student studying International Relations and International Law. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Fossil-Fuel.ed and Community projects, and led our review of climate and sustainability related projects, placements at the University of Edinburgh as well as our competitor benchmarking analysis.
Henry Kadzuwa

Advanced Earth Fellow: Climate Vulnerabilities
November-December 2022
Henry is a PhD candidate in Geography with a focus on forest management, estimating forest biomass, carbon emissions and sinks. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, he worked with the UNHCR to develop a Climate Vulnerability Index to examine the impacts of climate change on refugee populations in Jordan.
Jauza Khaleel

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Project Support
February-May 2023
Jauza is a current postgraduate student studying an MSc in Environment and Development. As an Earth Fellow she supported Energy@Ed in developing their communications, engagement and events strategy with researchers and external audiences. She is also supporting the Fossil-Fuel.Ed research project.
Christelle Kwizera

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: ISCN
February-May 2023
Christelle is a postgraduate student studying MSc Climate Change Finance and Investment. As an Earth Fellow she supported the International Sustainable Campus Network, of which The University of Edinburgh is a member, to develop a refreshed membership engagement strategy for the global network.
Zachary Li

Earth Fellow
June-July 2022
Zachary Li is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Ecological and Environmental Science. As an Earth Fellow he supported the Climate Research and Impact project and lead on research to establish a clearer understanding of the University of Edinburgh’s current enterprise activity with relation to climate, environment and sustainability.
Yi Liu

Advanced Earth Fellow: Medical Waste
October-December 2022
Yi is a graduate student from the MSc Management of Bioeconomy, Innovation and Governance with research interests in the social, political and policy dimensions of medical science and technology. As an Advanced Earth Fellow he worked on the Medical Waste project, working with Dr Alice Street to investigate the UK’s regulatory history of plastics use in single-use diagnostic devices.
Sarah Manning

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Project Support
October 2022-May 2023
Sarah is a current postgraduate student studying an MSc in Environment and Development. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Fossil-Fuel.Ed, Energy, Climate Change and Audio-Visual Media, UNCOVER and Adapt.Ed projects, in addition to our wider communications and engagement work.
Natalie Meiklejohn

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Climate & Sustainability Training
February-June 2023
Natalie Meiklejohn is a current postgraduate student studying MSc Carbon Management. As a Postgraduate Earth Fellow she worked with the Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability to develop and deliver the University of Edinburgh’s accredited carbon literacy and biodiversity training for students and staff.
Martín del Valle Menendez

Advanced Earth Fellow: Climate Vulnerabilities
November 2022-May 2023
Martín is a PhD candidate in Agriculture and Food Systems. He is currently researching food governance structures in Chile, with a particular focus on the role of the agricultural sector in improving access to sustainable diets for the most vulnerable population. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, he worked with the UNHCR to develop a Climate Vulnerability Index to examine the impacts of climate change on refugee populations in Jordan.
John Mutua

Advanced Earth Fellow
June 2022-April 2023
John Mutua is a PhD student using earth observation combined with local ground truth data to estimate livestock feed composition in East Africa. These will then be used to support more robust estimates of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from the livestock sector in East Africa. As an Advanced Earth Fellow he has worked on multiple projects, including our Climate Research Impact project to understand the scope and opportunities for climate and sustainability related research across the University of Edinburgh, and mapping the climate technology landscape in Scotland for Scottish Enterprise.
Ernesta Mwacha

Earth Fellow
June-July 2022
Ernesta Mwacha is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Sustainable Development. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Fossil-Fuel.ed and Community projects and lead the Circular Economy project, working with University of Edinburgh staff to scope out opportunities for creating a university wide platform for repair.
Henry Myers

Advanced Earth Fellow: Work in a Warming World
May-August 2023
Henry is a fourth year PhD candidate in Human Geography at University of Edinburgh. His PhD research primarily involves ethnographic study of the politics of indigenous recognition, tenure reform, and forest governance in Indonesian Borneo where her has been working with indigenous Dayak Lebo and Basap communities since 2016 studying their struggles for forest rights. As an Advanced Earth Fellow he worked with Dr. Amir Anwar on the Working in a Warming World project, conducting systematic literature review to identify opportunities for research on impacts to global work and livelihoods from climate change.
Solace Okeyi

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Communications and Events
October-December 2022
Solace is a recent graduate from an MSc in Africa and International Development. As an Earth Fellow she supported our communications work by developing content for our website, social media channels and campaigns.
Shivani Arulalan Pillai

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Communications and Events
February-July 2023
Shivani is a current postgraduate student studying an MSc in Literature and Modernity: 1900 to the Present. As our Communications and Events Earth Fellow, she was responsible for content creation for our website, social media channels and events, as well as supporting communications for other research projects with the wider Earth Fellows team.
Charlegne Rambanapasi

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Project Support
March-May 2023
Charlegne is a current part-time postgraduate student studying an MSc in Carbon Management. As an Earth Fellow she supported Energy@Ed in developing their communications, engagement and events strategy with researchers and external audiences. She is also supporting the Fossil-Fuel.Ed research project.
Chitra Sangtani

Advanced Earth Fellow
January-March 2023
Chitra is a PhD student in Social Anthropology entitled ‘Between the Life and Death of a River: Contested Knowledge in a Toxic Commons’. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she is working with Professor Jamie Cross to create a short documentary film exploring the use of heat sources in India as part of the Cool Infrastructures project.
Lila Sakata

Earth Fellow
June-July 2022
Lila Sakata is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Environmental Geoscience. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Earth Data Hub and Climate Research Impact projects and led our review of climate and sustainability related projects, placements at the University of Edinburgh as well as our competitor benchmarking analysis.
Sophie Scrimgeour

Advanced Earth Fellow: Medical Waste
October 2022-March 2023
Sophie is a 4th year Veterinary Medicine and Surgery student. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she worked for the Medical Waste Project run by Dr Alice Street. The focus of her work is to strengthen the community of practice for research on circular economy and medical waste through a focus on the impact and reduction of waste flows, in particular in relation to waste from medical diagnostics.
Shubhi Sharma

Advanced Earth Fellow: Fossil-Fuel.Ed
June-July 2022
Shubhi Sharma completed her on the social impact of a REDD+ project on the Khasi forest community of Meghalaya, India. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she led our Fossil-Fuel.ed team, producing foundational work for the student-led research project examining the University of Edinburgh’s historical involvement with the industrial revolution and fossil fuels.
Talia Shoval

Advanced Earth Fellow
July-August 2022 and February-July 2023
Talia Shoval is a PhD student whose research focuses on the interplay between environmental ethics and the ethics of war. As our first Joint Advanced Earth Fellow she worked with Professor Toby Kelly in the School for Social and Political Science to develop a literature review which explored the relationship between environmental degradation and violence. She is currently working with the Edinburgh Earth Initiative and partners to support the development of a climate justice manifesto for the University of Edinburgh.
Elizabeth Simmons

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Project Support
October-December 2022
Elizabeth is a recent graduate from MSc in Environmental Sustainability. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Fossil-Fuel.Ed, Climate, Energy and Audio-Visual Media and Highland Rewilding projects.
Saraswati Thapa

Advanced Earth Fellow: Urban Flooding
May-August 2023
Sara is a PhD student researching the impact of sediment transport, anthropogenic activities, and climate change on river morphology change and flooding in Nepali and Scottish rivers at the School of Geosciences. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she worked with the Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability on a project to investigate cost-effective engineering solutions to reduce urban flooding due to intense rainfall and recommend the most impactful technologies to the university to include in climate strategy plans.
Aurora Tin

Postgraduate Earth Fellow: Project Support
October-December 2022
Aurora is a current postgraduate student studying an MSc in Carbon Management. As an Earth Fellow she supported the Earth Data Hub and Highland Rewilding project, and led our communications and engagement work with the Energy@Ed research group.
Ki Tong

Advanced Earth Fellow: Low Voltage Living
February-July 2023
Ki is a PhD student in Integrative Studies. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she worked with Dr Arno Verhoeven in the School of Design on the Low Voltage Living project. She will be working in a team to deliver workshops with researchers to challenge predominant sociotechnical narratives regarding social behaviour, technical emancipation and the role of critical infrastructures in energy production, storage and distribution.
Lucy Wells

Advanced Earth Fellow: Highland Rewilding
September-December 2022
Lucy is a PhD candidate in the School of Geosciences and part of the NERC SENSE Earth Observation CDT. Her research examines the response of savannas and dry forests to global change, with a focus on areas of conservation concern using remote sensing. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she led the project with Highlands Rewilding which evaluated the availability of earth observation methods and technologies to quantify and model the carbon stocks of Beldorney estate, Aberdeenshire, in the context of generating verifiable carbon offsets.
Marie-Louise Wöhrle

Advanced Earth Fellow: Medical Waste
October 2022-April 2023
Marie-Louise is a 3rd year PhD student researching biosecurity and the understanding of infectious diseases amongst conservation staff and experts in Scotland. As an Advanced Earth Fellow, she worked for the Medical Waste Project run by Dr Alice Street, investigating plastic waste in COVID-19 lateral flow testing.
Emma Yule

Advanced Earth Fellow
June-July 2022
Emma Yule is a 2nd year PhD student researching extreme weather and climate events, their causes and consequences and how organisations are approaching risk management and adaptation decision making. As an Advanced Earth Fellow she led our Community Project, scoping out the existing opportunities for students to get involved with climate, environment and sustainability projects at the University of Edinburgh and the local area.
Secondments
Beth Christie
Beth Christie is a Senior Lecturer in Education in the Outdoor and Environmental Education Section of the Moray House School of Education. She is Programme Director for the MSc Learning for Sustainability.
Beth has held research and teaching positions at the University of St. Andrews, Dundee and Edinburgh. She has gained professional experience working with organisations such as Learning for Sustainability Scotland, Education Scotland, British Council, Field Studies Council, National Trust for Scotland, Forestry Commission, Groundworks, Natural England and the Scottish Countryside Ranger Service.
Talent
Join our growing community through our Talent Directory of PhD students who are working on climate, environmental and sustainability related research projects at the University of Edinburgh and interested in opportunities and paid short-term work focused on research and partnerships. We welcome interest from all disciplines and backgrounds.
Find out more