Danielle Satterthwaite

I am a NERC DTP student in my first year of a PhD in Environmental Biology between the Faculty of Life Sciences and the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (SEAES) at the University of Manchester. During the course of my PhD I will be looking at the indirect effects of climate change on carbon cycling in soils; specifically considering whether changes in the aboveground plant diversity alter the responses to climate change belowground. In order to do this I will be looking at established field experiments, as well as setting up some of my own. I will be focusing on mountain ecosystems and peatlands as these rich carbon sinks have the potential to become carbon sources with a changing climate. 

I have had the opportunity to be a part of the committee organising the SEAES Postgraduate Research Conference 2014, which was a fantastic opportunity to see the amount of work and organisation which goes into such an event. 

I am also a STEM ambassador and have volunteered on Manchester Science Festival. These are both great opportunities for outreach work and to the try to engage the public with various aspects of science, which can be very rewarding when someone who is initially disinterested really starts to get more enthusiastic and keen to learn more.