Canada Visit Report – Rosie Eaves (Environmental Research (NERC DTP) – Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics)

I spent the semester at the University of British Columbia working with Professor Stephanie Waterman. The oceanography group at UBC has a large focus on observational studies, particularly in the Salish Sea surrounding Vancouver. Coming from a largely modelling based group in Oxford, it was great to expose myself to this side of ocean research. I attended the weekly internal oceanography group meetings where I learnt a lot about observational studies, particularly the difficulties involved in obtaining the data. I also had the opportunity to present my research at the internal group meeting which led to many fruitful conversations.

I was situated in the Earth Sciences department and regularly attended the departmental weekly symposium where an external speaker would present. I am happy to have had the opportunity to hear of geophysical research outside of oceanography, both as potential areas of research and to satisfy my own scientific curiosity. I was particularly moved by a panel discussion on environmental justice which focused on indigenous rights and climate policy.

Throughout my time at UBC, I continued meeting weekly with my supervisors back in the UK. I also had a weekly meeting with Stephanie Waterman and her other students. These meetings were extremely useful, and essentially functioned as another supervisor meeting where we could ask questions and get help from others. I had recently started a new piece of work focusing on the Arctic, which was a new area for me but which the other students had a lot of experience with. I had many productive discussions with them which helped immensely with my understanding of both previous studies and my own plans. These meetings were invaluable to my work.

I also had the opportunity to attend the American Geophysical Union annual meeting where I showed a poster of my work. This was my first time attending a very large international conference and I absolutely loved the entire experience. I had several interesting conversations about both my work and other studies which left me feeling motivated and excited.

I returned from UBC feeling energised, eager to continue my work, and with many new professional contacts. I gained so much from my time in Canada both professionally and personally. I am extremely grateful to have had this opportunity and want to thank the college and any donors who have made this possible.

Find out more about the range of travel grants and scholarships available to assist Univ students on our Travel Grants page or read further travel reports.

Published: 17 May 2024

Explore Univ on social media