Vanessa Burton

 This PhD was hosted in the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, in partnership with Forest Research who acted as a CASE partner.

The DTP is fantastic for the opportunities it provides [...] We had access to more introductory and specialist training, as well as experiences like the PIP. The funding enabled me to attend several national and international conferences, as well a 10-day summer school in the French Alps.

What was your research about?

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I explored the Scottish government aspiration to increase woodland cover using a mixed-methods approach, combining evidence synthesis, stakeholder engagement, and agent-based modelling. Through a workshop and interviews, I defined different ‘visions’ for how different stakeholders saw woodland expansion ideally happening. I then explored these in a simulation model representing the environment and types of land managers in Scotland. I found that the vision which described a future with a much greater variety of land managers and land uses, as well as more resources and funding for local communities to manage their own land, was most successful at increasing woodland cover, meeting government targets, and providing a wide range of benefits to society.

What made you apply to the E³ DTP?

I’d just finished my masters in Environmental Sustainability, and was on a short-term contract in the Land Use and Ecosystem Services science group at Forest Research, just south of Edinburgh. I loved the work and realised that to have a career in a research organisation I probably needed to train further via a PhD. I also wanted to make Edinburgh my home, and the strong environmental sector in Scotland was a big draw. I wrote a project proposal based on research themes I was interested in with support from Forest Research and my masters programme director, who became my main supervisor. We were able to make it a project within the DTP and I applied, and was happily successful.

What did you find challenging in your PhD?

Managing a 4-year research project that you are fully responsible for can be very isolating and I found the academic culture challenging sometimes. I think that students with tight-knit research groups within the university benefited a lot.

I continue to be surprised by how PhDs are viewed by most people externally. While you are essentially working full-time and training on the job to be a scientist, many people still picture your life similar to that of an undergrad. I think a lot needs to be done to change perceptions, and good things seem to be happening around work-life balance and wellbeing support.

Looking back, what would you have done differently?

The process is a huge learning experience. The things I would now do differently taught me a lot! I spent too much time carrying out a systematic literature review, which we thought would take only the first year, but which ate up a lot more time and caused a lot more stress. I probably could have got further with other aspects of the research if I hadn’t done that. But at the same time, it gave me my first experience of paper writing and the value of perseverance to get work through academic peer review!

I’d also get much more involved in the DTP and PhD network. I was already established in Edinburgh so didn’t feel like I needed to, but retrospectively, having more pals that were going through a PhD at the same time as me would have been a valuable and supportive thing to have. It’s a rollercoaster of an experience, and just knowing that other people are having, or have had, the same issues as you is really important.

I found feeling like part of a team and community was essential to staying motivated when my research was hard.

Which aspects of your PhD did you enjoy the most?

I enjoyed the latter stages, when some of the skills I’d put a lot of work into started to pay off. I taught myself R programming to process and analyse a large amount of environmental data for the modelling part of the research, and it was really rewarding to start to understand my data and realise that it is a skill which translates to all sorts of data science problems.

I found belonging to a research group to be really important. As I had a supervisor at Forest Research, I stayed part of the team there, and the opportunity to work at the office and attend meetings and trips away was really fun and important to me. I found feeling like part of a team and community was essential to staying motivated when my research was hard.

Which skills did you gain during your PhD?

Probably too many to list, but the main ones would be data science, writing for peer review, and perseverance.

What would not have been possible without the DTP?

The DTP is fantastic for the opportunities it provides compare to a lot of other PhD programmes. We had access to more introductory and specialist training, as well as experiences like the PIP. The funding enabled me to attend several national and international conferences, as well a 10-day summer school in the French Alps.

The PhD allowed me to build up a great network of people working in research, NGOs, policy and practice and I think this will be really valuable in the future.

How has your PhD helped you to decide on a career path?

I knew I wanted to be in a career focusing on forests, conservation, and land use issues.

The PhD showed me that I didn’t want to go further within pure academia, but that applied research within an agency – where you can work on shorter applied projects – was definitely more suited to me.

I’m happy working in research but am also still interested in policy aspects. The PhD allowed me to build up a great network of people working in research, NGOs, policy and practice and I think this will be really valuable in the future.

And now?

I applied for a job as a Spatial Analyst back at Forest Research in the final months of my PhD and was successful. I started working part-time while I finished thesis write up, and went full-time a couple of months before I handed in. I’m on a two-year contract for now, in the same Land Use and Ecosystem Services team. It’s been great being able to apply the skills I learnt via a PhD and start to take on more initiative and responsibility.