Rhys Jones is a first year PhD researcher supporting the RACC project, one of the four projects funded by the ReCCS programme. He is based in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London. His supervisors are Andrew Russell and Patrick Diamond.
Tell us about yourself and your project
My PhD will be supporting the RACC project. This project investigates the risk of waste and pollution release from historic coastal landfill sites, under more severe flooding and coastal erosion scenarios.
RACC will assess the harm that this pollution will do to coastal environments and adjacent communities. As you can see it is quite a broad subject area, but I will be focusing specifically on the areas of community engagement and policy.
What is your background?
I joined Queen Mary University back in January, so I am still quite early on in my PhD. Before this, my academic background was in Environmental Sustainability and Development with a focus on community engagement in environmental topics. Further, I have previously worked in sustainability teams in the public sector and the third sector – where I developed and introduced the community engagement plan for a Welsh environmental charity.
What will you be doing in your research?
I hope to explore the idea of bringing people together, with differing (conflicting) priorities and perspectives, to collaborate on real and effective ways forward. Through systems that bring value and improve their relationships with each other, and their environments, in the face of a changing climate.
What excites you about joining the RACC Project?
I am so excited about being a part of the RACC project specifically, as well as the wider Coast-R Network. It was great to meet many members of the Network in Aberystwyth at the Dialogue Training Workshop, and I hope to continue building great mutually beneficial relationships throughout my PhD. I cannot wait to get stuck into the practical aspect of the project, working directly with communities, policy makers and others. I want to hear the stories of people who are traditionally not included in discussions around how to manage the area that they live in and am eager to work on accessibility around the world of policy. I am very optimistic in the value that this project will bring, and I am excited to get to work.
Feel free to get in contact if you see any areas of our work that may overlap, or if you would like to know more about my research, via r.e.m.jones@qmul.ac.uk
