Welcome to 3Keel! How has your day been so far?

Good thank you! I’ve just had a catch-up with my manager about my work schedule over the coming months and have been working on some data analysis in Excel. Answering this Q&A should give my brain a nice break from the spreadsheets

You’ve joined 3Keel completely remotely because of the Covid-19 pandemic. How have you found it so far, and how do you stay connected to the team?

3Keel has been great at making sure that the team stays connected and has the opportunity to chat about topics outside of work. There are daily “coffee mornings” which anyone from the team can join, where we have a general chat about anything interesting going on in our lives. I also have a “buddy” who I have been getting to know, which has been lovely, and I have had chats with several members of the team to just find out a little more about them.

What have you started working on so far?

The majority of my time has been spent learning how to calculate a carbon footprint for a client. This has been really interesting and has definitely improved my skills in Excel! Aside from that I have also been involved in the beginnings of some biodiversity strategies, which I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into.

What are you looking forward to most about working for 3Keel?

I’m most looking forward to the opportunity to constantly learn about a field I am deeply interested in. I think that after leaving higher education, there is a risk of stagnating in terms of knowledge and learning. But, at 3Keel, the make-up of the team, the fact that our projects are regularly changing and evolving, and the need to be up to date to be the best for our clients, means that there are constant opportunities to keep thinking about the sustainability issues facing the planet.

Who or what inspired you to work in sustainability?

Without sounding cliché, I have always been obsessed with nature and the environment. I cannot pinpoint one place where this has come from, but it resulted in me doing my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in biology, which I loved. The resulting cumulative knowledge about the natural environment has made me want to protect it, and therefore sustainability was the natural direction to take.

How has the pandemic affected your views on sustainability?

The pandemic probably hasn’t affected my views on sustainability massively, as I was already very conscious about it before. It has however confirmed my views on the importance of it, from the fundamental need for a healthy planet to support the world’s population, to the small things such as the need for green space in local communities. I hope that the pandemic has made the importance of sustainability an even bigger issue in people’s minds than it was before.

When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

During my undergraduate degree I became obsessed with British pollinators, namely British wild bees, so I can often be found outside looking for patches of flowers trying to ID anything on them. I’ve also got into road cycling since the pandemic, which is now my go to exercise, especially if it’s a sunny weekend! And of course, I can never say no to a drink with my friends.

For those wanting to learn more about sustainability, what key resource (tv, film, book, podcast, etc.) can you recommend?

Again, I’m really struggling to think of one resource that helped me more than others. I think instead it’s an accumulation of information. For example, if you are at University, it’s great to look out for talks on sustainability and to join any clubs or societies focusing on sustainability or the environment. There are also external local groups which can be joined, such as “Women in Sustainability”. I would recommend keeping up to date with the environment section on any news sites. Many news publishers have specific social media accounts for the environment (e.g. @GuardianEco on Twitter), which I would recommend following.