I’m interested in managing water quality and ecology of freshwater courses. With benthic macroinvertebrates, I investigate the impact of human activities on the interactions between these organisms and their physical environments. I’ve delivered fieldwork courses on the field in the UK and abroad including Costa Rica, Greece, Tenerife and Myanmar.

At the Department, I coordinate the Student Ambassadors’ Programme. I developed the scheme as a forum for students’ network, professional skill development and support for school activities including recruitment, outreach and other events.

I’ve pioneered new ways of public engagement and linked them with ignored communities, stimulating their interests and potential for working/studying in STEM areas.

Public engagement highlights

Since 2018, I’ve led the freshwater ecology workshop of the national British Ecological Society (BES) 16-18 year-old Summer School, engaging students from diverse, low-income backgrounds across the UK. Through this, I’ve promoted awareness of ecology to disadvantaged communities and promoted inclusiveness.

In 2019, I introduced the Inclusive Cultural Practices Theme to the BES. The initiative aims to address challenging conversations about equality, diversity and inclusion. The workshop was successfully delivered at the 2019 BES Conference. This success informed the announcement by BES that the workshop was to become an annual feature of the conference.

During 2018 and 2019, I successfully convened the Women in Environmental Sciences (WIES) Network. Through this platform, I contribute to the University’s sustainability and widening participation agendas to promote open discourses on environment, equality, diversity, female inclusion and work-life balance.

Find out more

• Women in Environmental Sciences (YouTube)
• Blog: How to tackle inequality for women in environmental science (Policy@Manchester)
• Blog: EU Environmental Directives Post Brexit (Policy@Manchester)
• Blog: Desperate to publish and not succeeding? Keep trying… (Cambridge Core)
• Written evidence on EU Environmental Directives: Brexit, research, collaboration – Contribution to Science and Technology Select Committee’s Brexit: Science and Innovation summit (UK Parliament)
• Cecilia’s research profile