Nurturing talent with Lancaster University
As part of Lancaster University’s ‘Nurturing Talent’ days in September 2024, we worked with over 90 students who took part in our wave tank challenge game, creating new designs for coastal flood resilience and exploring the impact of climate change on coastal communities.
Working in teams, the Year 9 students from All Saints High School, Rawtenstall and Lostock Hall Academy, Preston learnt about how coastal engineering and nature-based solutions can help protect communities from more extreme weather and rising sea-levels. The teams were based in the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC) labs and used two wave tanks to test their designs and work out which combinations of flood defences were most effective.
The wave tank sessions were part of day packed full of exciting and thought-provoking environmental science activities organised by Envision OUT and supported by Lancaster University’s PhD students. The groups explored marine ecosystems and coral reefs, measured how volcanic lava flows downs slopes and took part in an interactive climate change board game to start thinking about strategies for adaptation in a changing world.
Scott Panaro, Career Leader at All Saints High School said, “It was fantastic to see how engaged our students were in the activity, especially when they had the opportunity to get hands on with the wave tank. The session opened their eyes to the diverse range of jobs and careers in environmental engineering.”
Alex Scott from JBA Trust said, “The students were able to bring what they’d been learning about sustainability and climate change adaptation into the wave tank challenge, and suggested ways the coastal town could respond while also thinking about the sustainability of different options and the trade-offs that need to be made in the real-world”.
The Nurturing Talent days were organised by Ali Sheen, an EDIA Innovator and part of the Envision OUT initiative which aims to widen participation in environmental sciences amongst underrepresented young people, engage students with the natural environment, facilitate links with higher education and nurture young talent to leverage change in the professional workspace. The Envision OUT team commented,
“It was fantastic to have the JBA Trust involved in our outreach days. The students were fully engaged and excited by the wave tank demonstrations and went away inspired by what they had learnt about coastal defences. We are really grateful to Alex, Rosie and Hannah for making the day such a success for the students who had an amazing time taking part in laboratory activities that they wouldn’t have otherwise had access to.”
Envision is a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) that brings together UK researchers with industry and non-governmental organisations to provide a new generation of environmental scientists with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to take on the challenges of a changing world.