Lord Kingsland PML Fellowship Awarded for the first time
29th January 2010
Dr Helen Findlay is the first recipient of the
Lord Kingsland PML Fellowship, which was created in honour of
Plymouth Marine Laboratory’s first Chairman, Lord Christopher
Kingsland. The award recognises exceptional talent in early career
scientists and will foster the further development of the
individual by offering an employment opportunity of at least two
years at PML to further their research and gain additional
skills.
Helen, who was recently awarded her PhD for work on the influence
of temperature and carbon dioxide on the population distribution of
barnacles, will, through the Fellowship, be encouraged to take her
place in the wider scientific community through attendance at
international meetings, and secondment to an institute outside of
the UK. During her two year tenure Helen will be developing her
existing aptitude for scientific research alongside honing her
skills in making funding applications, applying research results,
communicating findings and transferring and exploiting knowledge
through enhancing her business skills.
Helen, who hopes to continue her valuable work
on the combined effects of climate change and ocean acidification
through the Fellowship is thrilled to have gained the award: “I am
very excited and honoured to be given this opportunity, I have
thoroughly enjoyed my time at PML as a research student and now
have the support to take my work further in a world class marine
laboratory. I am especially interested in combining my knowledge of
carbon chemistry with experimental work and computer modelling.
This cross-cutting approach to a specific topic fits well with the
PML ethos and provides a more complete picture of how the oceans
are being affected by the activities of humans”.
But Helen’s future role is not solely laboratory based and she is
keen to underpin her research in the lab with supporting
observations in the field, especially in Polar Regions, where the
impacts of climate change and ocean acidification are likely to
have the most rapid impacts: “I am planning some research in the
Canadian Arctic later in the year and hope that we can gain a
better idea of how human induced changes are affecting plankton and
other organisms. This is important work that will help us
understand how the ocean is being altered and what the impacts
might be for all of us. I think this is in the spirit of the
Fellowship,” added Helen.
PML Chief Executive, Professor Stephen de Mora, is
delighted that the Board supported the idea of creating the Lord
Kingsland PML Fellowship: “Every year PML provides research and
learning opportunities for a number of PhD students who, after
graduating, have to move elsewhere within the scientific community.
Through this fellowship we can identify outstanding individuals and
develop them even further as excellent scientists. For PML as an
organisation it means not only can we enhance our projects, it also
makes us a better employer, better able to attract and retain top
flight science graduates. I am particularly thrilled that Helen has
become the first Lord Kingsland PML Fellow; she has demonstrated
excellent scientific endeavour, a commitment to PML, and already
has shown a capacity for the wider skills needed by a scientist in
the modern world.”