Profile
Joanna Clark
My CV
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Education:
I started school at my local primary school in a village in Devon in the 1980s. At the time, there were only 24 children in the whole school! One class for all infant years (reception, year 1 and 2) and another class for all junior years (year 3-6). Secondary school was a bit of a step up to a large Comprehensive School with around 2000 students from age 11-18. We had mixed groups for Arts, Technology, Music etc, but were in sets for Maths, English and Science. I was in the top set for subjects, and most people in my classes went on to University. This was an ordinary state school that provided me with a good education and real life experience by meeting people from different backgrounds.
When I learn to teach at University, the tutors got us to think about how we learnt at school and what type of learning we enjoyed. Because my school had a diverse background and wasn’t at the top of the league tables, my teachers had to work hard to engage the class with active learning – the students wouldn’t stand for things that were boring! There are six teachers who really stood out and influenced me in Geography, Maths, English, Art, Physics and French. We rarely copied from books or took notes from a teacher dictating or reading from a script, which is how some people I met at University had learnt at school. I think that active learning style helped me to get a real curiosity for learning and how we find things out that set me on a path today – this process of knowledge creation is the foundation of what I do today as a scientist. Being curious, asking questions, experimenting, testing and learning from mistakes. That’s how we create and evolve knowledge.
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Qualifications:
11 GCSE’s and 3 A-levels (Maths, Physics and Geography)
BSc in Geography, University of Durham
MSc in Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Management, King’s College London
PhD in Geography, University of Leeds
PGCAP Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Reading -
Work History:
I haven’t left University. I stayed on at the Geography Department, University of Leeds to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher after I completed my PhD. I then went to work in the Biology Department, at Bangor University as a Researcher on another project, before moving to Imperial College London to start a Research Fellowship at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, working from Civil Engineering department (because engineers work on environment and water issues too!). I then move to University of Reading to take up my first Lectureship post in 2010, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016, and Professor in 2019.
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Current Job:
Professor of Environmental Science
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About Me:
I live in Reading with my husband (secondary school teacher) and son (year 2 student), close to the University of Reading where I work. I like visiting outdoor places and seeing friends and family.
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Read more
During the Covid19 lockdown, I have been shielding because I have a severe respiratory condition called Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). Basically, that means I can’t leave the house, and people living with me have also stayed in too. That’s been quite hard, but we have a nice view from the windows, internet access and a garden to spend time in, so we are lucky on that front.
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Read more
At the moment, I am working a lot on how land management can help us reduce flood risk and tackle climate change. This includes looking at how we use and manage agricultural land currently used for food production, and also looking at how we manage green space. A lot of my work looks at soils, specifically carbon storage within soils and the many benefits this has for climate change, flood and drought risk, drinking water purification, biodiversity and food production.
The government is currently looking at how it encourages farmers to use and manage land and soil, and is thinking about including more environmental services that can be delivered alongside food production in its policies. Many farmers are also interested in looking after their soils and providing additional environmental services as well as food production too, and have been trying out different ways to manage their land to improve soil and environmental health. We are working with famers, policy makers and other members of the community to help test different management methods to see what works best in different locations. Our environment is so different across the country that there will not be one method that works everywhere, so we need to try to find different solutions that work in different places.
My family are farmers. One of my motivations for doing this research is to help bring farmer voices in to the debate on environmental issues, because they are often forgotten. Our environment will be improved for the better by working together, listening and showing respect and understanding towards everyone.
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My Typical Day:
Everyday is a little bit different. I wake up and have breakfast with my family and see my son off to primary school (during the lockdown, this means homeschool in the front room as I go in to my work room!). Sometimes I work at home, sometime I go to University and sometimes I travel to other places to meet people to talk about work or do field work. Feedback is a big part of my job, which is a chance to share things I’ve learnt with others. This ranges from reading work for students and other scientists and providing feedback to help them with problems and improve their work. Taking part in presentations or going to meetings to discuss problems or how we are going to fix problems and find things out. There is a lot of planning too and checking everyone knows what they are doing.
We get to decide the types of things we’d like to find out, and then plan out a project, apply for funding to get money to pay for the work and then do the work if our funding application is successful. Throughout this process, we share what we do with other people, and their questions help us think about this and inform how we do things too. Your questions can help us with our work – it is important to listen to everyone!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, patient, chatty.
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to work on environmental issues, but didn't really know then what sort of jobs might be available.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Mostly not, but did get one or two detentions for chatting and joking in class with friends.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Kasabian and Jamiorquai. Both amazing bands, and outstanding live performers.
What's your favourite food?
Pasta
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. I'd like to have a time machine so I could fit everything I wanted to do in to a day - so much to do, people to see and not enough time! 2. I'd like to see a more equal society, perhaps something like universial basic income, and better access to green space for all 3. I'd like there to be a cure the the lung disease I have that is limiting my activity more and more over time as it gets worse (currently no cure for rare intersititial lung diseases)
Tell us a joke.
Never trust an atom - they make up everything! (from my son's t-shirt)
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