WISE CDT Celebration Event: 20-21 April 2023, Bristol
The WISE CDT was proud to organise a two-day Celebration Event in Bristol from 20th-21st April 2023. It was a joy to see all the WISE cohorts reunited and to share this precious time with graduates, students, academics, Advisory Board members and industry partners. WISE is grateful to everyone who took time out to join the event from all over the UK, mainland Europe and even Canada!
Day 1 was open to all, to include external academic and industry experts from the water, environmental, information technology and engineering sectors. We were delighted to host around 120 delegates. Our aim was to showcase our innovative and wide-ranging PhD research that spans the themes of Water Resources: Supply and Quality, Flood Risk and Prevention, Coastal and Marine Processes and Enhancing Infrastructure Resilience. It was gratifying to welcome so many people who had shared the CDT’s journey and who had supported WISE – plus those who were unfamiliar with the programme and who had come to find out more!
Bhagesh Sachania Photography, 2023
Delegates were treated to an inspirational keynote speech on Nature Based Solutions at Scale from Dr Mark Fletcher FREng, Arup Fellow, Arup Global Water Business Leader and Chair of British Water.
The afternoon then featured uplifting presentations from a selection of WISE CDT graduates, who spoke about their PhD experiences and career pathways.
- Dr Olivia Bailey, Digital Water Consultant, Arup
- Dr Paul Bayle, Postdoctoral Researcher, TU Delft
- Dr Anna Lo Jacomo, Hydroinformatics Developer, Jacobs
- Dr Wouter Knoben, Research Associate, University of Saskatchewan
- Dr Rosie Lane, Hydrological Modeller, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
- Dr Nejc Coz, Research Assistant, Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
- Dr Nefeli Makrygianni, Marine Scientist, Met Office
- Dr Laura Ramsamy, Senior Flood Scientist, Climate X
- Dr Josh Myrans, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, South West Water.
Bhagesh Sachania Photography, 2023
An engaging poster session followed, promoting the latest PhD research of our final-year students and graduates and providing plenty of opportunities for interaction and networking.
- Dr David Birt, University of Bath
- Ollie Foss, University of Bath
- Vivien Maertens, University of Bath
- Juliana Marcal, University of Bath
- James Rand, University of Bath
- Dr Ioanna Stamataki, University of Bath
- Laura Devitt, University of Bristol
- Dan Power, University of Bristol
- Dr Catherine Leech, Cardiff University
- Nick Hanousek, Cardiff University
- Ceri Howells, Cardiff University
- Sam Rowley, Cardiff University
- Damian Staszek, University of Exeter
- Will Addison-Atkinson, University of Exeter
- Cristina Coker, University of Exeter
- Daisy Harley-Nyang, University of Exeter.
Bhagesh Sachania Photography, 2023
Huge thanks go to all our amazing presenters.
Day 2 was a closed session for WISE CDT graduates, students, academics and our Advisory Board. The day focused on Team Challenges covering the four CDT research themes. WISE is indebted to the Team Challenge leaders and their colleagues for devising the challenges and for their inputs and support to the teams throughout the day.
- Richard Brown, Associate Director, Arup (Enhancing Infrastructure Resilience)
- Helen Wakeham, Deputy Director of Water Quality, Groundwater and Contaminated Land, Environment Agency (Water Resources: Supply and Quality)
- Dr Charlie Thompson, Director, Channel Coastal Observatory, National Oceanography Centre (Coastal and Marine Processes)
- Professor Rob Lamb, Managing Director, JBA Trust (Flood Risk and Prevention).
It is hoped that outputs from the Team Challenges may generate an additional legacy for the CDT, beyond its already considerable impact that has delivered new collaborations, successful research projects, high-quality journal and conference publications and graduate careers.
