Charlotte Lawrence

Research Officer, Citizen Science

About me

I had aways found refuge within the natural environment, developing a strong bond from a young age. I wanted to seek any opportunity I could to help project it. Therefore, I went on to complete a BSc Wildlife Conservation at the University of West England and then onto doing an MRes Wildlife Conservation at the University of Southampton in association with Marwell Zoo. For my thesis I designed a habitat assessment for ungulates in data starved areas by using remote sensing data. All the while, undertaking several local and international volunteering roles.

After education I did a stint of advising and aiding local conservation NGOs in South America for six months. Upon my return, I volunteered with the Wiltshire Swindon Biological Record Centre working on their Ancient Woodland Project using GIS. I then moved to WWT working as a Research Officer, assisting with their Gloucestershire Citizen Science Project.

My role

I have been taken on by WWT as their Research Officer - Citizen Science and together we have been working on the Gloucestershire Citizen Science Project funded by the council with the aim of improving the health and status of water-related environments in Gloucestershire and the Severn Vale area. As part of the project, we are looking for a multifaceted approach of being able to communicate project opportunities, share data knowledge and define best practices all based upon citizen science. Eventually, I hope to apply our project findings to other national and international WWT projects that benefit from citizen science and provide guidance where possible.

Experience and interests

• Citizen Science training and engagement
• Project Coordination and scientific methodology design
• R-Studio: Data analysis and visualisation
• GIS: ArcGIS & QGIS
• Environmental data collection through ecology surveys and sampling
• Qualitative data collection and stakeholder engagement

Publications

• Lawrence, C. 2022. Identifying Landscape Determinants, as Part of Ungulate Conservation, Through Spatial Planning. Thesis (MRes). University of Southampton.