From cricket to climate 

I did an undergraduate degree in geography at Loughborough University, and when I left I became a cricket analyst for a short time. But I realised that working in sport wasn’t for me, and I wanted to continue to explore the climate topics I’d studied in my final year which had really piqued my interest. 

The MScR really appealed to me because of its overall structure. I’d enjoyed the research element of my undergraduate degree, and I was totally done with written exams. But the MScR still offered a good variety of optional – non-assessed – training, which would be beneficial down the line. I also wanted to experience a bigger city, and there’s a lot happening in Bristol. 

My research project

I had a great discussion with my future supervisor before making an application to the MScR. We shared a lot of the same interests and passions so that helped to cement my decision to come to Cabot.  

Initially, my project was going to explore the understudied impacts of climate change on extreme heat in Africa, but the nature of a research masters means you’re always learning new things and expanding your knowledge, so in the end my thesis focused on uncertainty between observational products at a pan-African scale. 

We have lots of different ways and approaches to measuring temperature, and they don’t always agree on where has seen the most change or by how much the temperature has changed. For example, one approach might show a strong increasing trend, while another may show a negligible change.It’s important to understand how and why these approaches differ if we’re to understand long-term changes, outputs from climate models and attribution.  

Onwards to PhD 

My MScR supervisors were really supportive of my move to the PhD after the masters, helping me with mock interviews and looking over my application. My PhD focuses on characterising and understanding future changes to tropical cyclones over southern Africa, and evaluating how our models simulate them. 

Overall, the MScR programme was really pivotal in my decision to continue my research at the next level, as it allowed me to continue exploring a subject I was interested in without the major time commitment early on.There are definitely peaks and troughs during the programme – you’ll have periods when you’re extremely confident in what you’re doing and then there will be times when you’ll want to reassess everything. But my supervisors were always on hand to reassure and guide. 

The most important thing to remember is that studying a masters means developing knowledge and skills. You don’t start out as a polished, seasoned researcher, but you’ll certainly leave as one!