Helen Fearnley PhD Environmental Sciences

Hi, I'm Helen Fearnley and I studied PhD Environmental Sciences within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton.

I approached my old tutor at Southampton University on the off chance that I might be able to study lizards full time as a PhD. I was so surprised that the response was ‘yes’... I can’t believe that I am now working in the conservation world studying such an important species. It just goes to show how fruitful a meeting can be with one of the staff at Southampton University.

I graduated with a BSc in Environmental Sciences at Southampton University in 2000 which inspired me to seek employment in the conservation world. However, I decided to work in an office to start paying off my student loans. Whilst working I was surveying sand lizards in local nature reserves. Four years later my survey results were published in a national herpetological bulletin and I received several letters from herpetologists in Europe who were impressed with my findings and suggested I took this research area seriously. With this in mind I approached my old tutor at Southampton University on the off chance that I might be able to study lizards full time as a PhD. I was so surprised that the response was ‘yes’. I then made contact with the Herpetological Conservation Trust, a leading reptile charity who were fully supportive of my ambitions. Together we drew up a list of objectives for a PhD and within a month we had a full proposal. We then submitted this to several different funding bodies and SITA Environmental Trust saw the potential of this project and offered full funding through the landfill tax credit scheme.

So now, I’m back at Southampton University with my office life behind, working on a full time PhD studying the endangered populations of sand lizards! I’m supervised by both the Centre for Environmental Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences. I get the best of both worlds, the specific ecological expertise and advice of the biologists whilst benefiting from the broader and more applied technical support from the environmental scientists. I also have a big group of external partners advising me. There is a great deal of interest and support for my project as the sand lizards are one of our rarest reptiles. The BBC have covered the project on their website and local television companies are hoping to cover the projects progress. I can’t believe that I am now working in the conservation world studying such an important species. It just goes to show how fruitful a meeting can be with one of the staff at Southampton University.