Rachel

From a young age, I loved the book, Miss Rumphius. The main character was told that she needed to do 3 things in life to make the world a better place: 1) travel the world 2) live by the sea 3) do something to make the world a more beautiful place.

From a young age, this story stuck with me. As I strived to find a way to make the world a better place, I went down the pathway of climate change. Through obtaining my PhD, I have seen the questions that are still plaguing glaciologists. I strive in every project to have an element that can be useful to our better understanding of climate change. Through my development as a researcher, I also found a love of teaching, and I knew that becoming an educator was my calling.  For me, there is nothing better than the curiosity and enthusiasm that each new year of students bring to their studies. As an enthusiastic and devoted academic, I see no better purpose in life than passing on their love of learning to their own students. 

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So how did I end up in glaciology? As I continued in geology and geography courses, I was struck by landscapes and the stories they hold for us to unwind. Dr Stephen Marshak took a course to Scotland, and I was captivated by how he could interpret a landscape from the grain size of a mineral to an overturned fault. I continued to pursue glacial environments both modern and palaeo. I found that many modern glaciologists overlook the history of past ice sheets and palaeo studies don't know how to connect to the modern modelling realm. My goal is to be a bridge, using palaeo techniques to investigate recent and modern alpine glacial systems. I am using the past as the key to unlock the present.