Zoe Wright

• Please introduce yourself.   

Hi, my name is Zoe Wright, and I am a PhD Student with UKCEH and Lancaster university. 

• Tell us about your professional and academic career before becoming part of the BIOPOLE Community.  

Before becoming a part of BIOPOLE I studied an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at the University of Aberdeen. My focus was on plant and soil science, with my thesis project focussing on soil carbon sequestration in abandoned railway soils across the central belt of Scotland. This got me interested in working with young developing soil types. Also during my degree I took up various jobs, including working in Canada conducting boreal forest measurements, which sparked my joy for working in northern latitudes, leading me to my work in the arctic today. 

• What do you do within BIOPOLE?   

Within BIOPOLE, I am working in the terrestrial group, working in work packages 1-3. I collaborate with BIOPOLE through the focus of my PhD, which is on phosphorus cycling within the soil systems of Greenland. I am looking at temporal differences in phosphorus, and the impacts of deglaciation and permafrost thaw on phosphorus content within the soil. Specifically looking at how phosphorus is fractioned within the soil, and the implications for nutrient cycling and retention of phosphorus within these terrestrial systems. The data gathered from this is used to feed a nutrient cycling model which will be used to predict future nutrient cycling scenarios under different climate change regimes. I have also been involved in collecting data for other groups within the south-western Greenland area. 

• What have you enjoyed about BIOPOLE so far?  

I have enjoyed being able to connect a wide range of people with different types of knowledge, backgrounds, and skillsets. Also being able to be exposed to inter-disciplinary research has been a very exciting opportunity, alongside getting to hear about people’s research in other polar regions. 

• Tell us about a skill or trait unique to you that you would like to share?  

I am a very patient and strong person, which I have developed through my hobbies of archery and horse-riding. With these sports being very perfectionist, I have learnt to be ok with failure, and that getting up and back on that horse is how you truly succeed in life!