From industry to academia 

I had an extensive and varied career before I came to the MScR. I originally qualified as a natural scientist at Cambridge, then spent some time in Africa before returning to do a masters in soil and water engineering. Then I worked in the water industry both in the UK and overseas, then at a software company, then for Oxfam as a senior manager during which I studied for an MBA. I eventually decided to start my own consulting business. After some years, I went to work for the United Nations. Ultimately, I came to the MScR to pursue a subject that interested me – purely for intellectual stimulation. 

My research project

At the moment, my research is focusing on small scale community energy projects. There are around 500 in the UK – some are about generating electricity, some are about electric vehicles, others are about energy savings through insulation and so forth. I’m looking at how the distribution network operators – the companies that manage the electricity networks –relate to small scale energy providers as an element of the ecosystem in which community energy operates. 

Drawing on existing skills 

Approaching the subject in this academic way as been quite a learning for me. I’ve written many management consultancy reports before, but it turns out academic writing is quite different. The core data I have gathered comes from approximately 50 semi-structured key informant interviews, a tool I was already familiar with. My previous career experience has definitely helped with this and my knowledge of managing organisations large and small is also coming in helpful. 

Making a difference 

There is a lot of literature on community energy in general but not on the angle I am taking. Community energy has become less viable with the ending of subsidies in 2019 and it was really hard hit by COVID and researchers aren’t working on it as much. That’s a challenge, but also it’s exciting to think that I might end up writing something that hasn’t been done before. Depending on whether people think my research is interesting or not, I may stay in the sector, probably on a voluntary basis - I'd be keen to help.