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| Jo Norris |
What is your role at Cabot Institute?
I am the Postgraduate Research Coordinator
for our Master’s by Research in Global Environmental
Challenges. My role works with both current and
prospective master’s students, but also involves communicating with academics
and the Professional Services teams across the University’s Faculties.
How long have you been part of Cabot?
I joined Cabot in January 2019, just as
the master’s had been approved and was beginning to be put together. It has
been a busy but exciting couple of years since then!
What is your background?
I have a degree in English Literature and
had never expected to find myself in an environmental research institute but am
delighted that life has brought me here! I spent much of my working career in
marketing agencies but left that world to find something more fulfilling. I had
always believed that an environmental career wouldn’t be open to me because I’m
not a scientist, but one of the things I’ve loved most about working at the
Cabot Institute is seeing real world examples of interdisciplinarity research
and learning how I can use my own skills to contribute to an issue that will
affect each and every one of us.
Why did you want to join the team?
I was aware of the Institute from having
attended a past Annual Lecture, and initially joined via the TSS (Temporary
Staffing Service). When the job advert was sent to me the first thing, I did
was watch the videos on our homepage, and had a very emotional response to them (and I still do when we play
them to students!). Reading about the Institute’s research and public
engagements really inspired and excited me, and I was utterly thrilled when my
position became permanent. It’s a truly wonderful team and a real pleasure to
be a part of it.
What do you think is the biggest environmental challenge facing us
today?
It’s such a difficult question because
everything is so interconnected – nothing happens within silos and that’s
something that the Institute’s research themes illustrate really well. Food
security is something that particularly stands out – the impacts of global
warming both as increased droughts and sea level rise both have catastrophic
impacts on food security and will impact the areas that are already suffering
the most.
I truly believe that one of the most
important things that both we as individuals and governments worldwide need to
address is that our poorest and most marginalized communities are already
seeing the effects despite contributing the least to global emissions, and it
will only get worse – so the pressure must be applied to those most
resource-rich to make tangible change now.
What is your favourite part of your job?
I absolutely love hearing our students
talking about their research projects! They are so diverse, and you can learn
so much. It’s a real privilege to see them at the beginning of their careers.
The same goes for our academics – through our events and working with
supervisors for master’s projects you can meet so many different people and get
an insight into their work, which will never get boring.
What are you most looking forward to over the next 10 years of
Cabot?
In 10 years, I hope that the master’s
programme has grown even bigger and better! I’m very much looking forward to
seeing it change and adapt with each new cohort of students. I also hope that
following this year’s COP26 we will start to see policy changes being made,
creating even more opportunities for our academics to connect with the public.
Find out more about Joanne here.