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The University of Southampton
Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre SouthamptonPostgraduate study

Michael Henehan PhD Geochemistry/Palaeoclimate

Michael Henehan's Photo

I decided to do a PhD as I enjoy working independently and was keen to do something that contributes to the wider world. I was also attracted to the mode of life of a research student; you come into contact with really stimulating people and often get to travel abroad.

There is almost always a top-drawer expert on a specialist subject somewhere in the building that you can approach with your questions; it really feels like you are at a hub of cutting-edge research.

My PhD was centred on working out CO2 levels in the past, how they’ve changed and what the effects were; if we can understand what has happened in the past, we may be able to predict what’s coming in the future. My project took me to the Red Sea, and was really rewarding. I was always working to discover new things, whereas at undergraduate level much of your work is based around learning about other people’s discoveries.

Studying at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton is a fantastic experience. It feels great to know that if you have a problem with something and it’s outside of your or your supervisor’s realm, there is almost always a top-drawer expert on the subject somewhere in the building that you can approach with your questions; it really feels like you are at a hub of cutting-edge research.

I stayed on at Southampton as a post-doctoral researcher before moving into my current post-doctoral research position at Yale.

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