How did you get to where you are?
In my current role, I write the cultural heritage input for environmental impact assessments and other reports required for clients within the renewable energy and large-scale infrastructure sectors. But what does this mean?
I look at the potential impact a development (e.g., wind farms, roads, power lines) might have on all aspects of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage includes known and protected monuments such as listed buildings (for example, Edinburgh Castle) and scheduled monuments (for example, the Calanais Stones). This also includes cultural heritage which isn’t protected by law, such as the physical remains of a dilapidated farmstead, a prehistoric mound, or even intangible heritage. I also identify the potential for unknown subsurface remains that might be underground that could be impacted by these developments. All of this gets wrapped into a sizable report called an environmental impact assessment which includes other disciplines such as ecology, landscape, and hydrology. Day to day, I work with clients to advise on design and development plans, write up reports, and conduct site surveys to gather data and assess archaeological potential on site.
I had no idea this whole side of consultancy in archaeology existed when I chose my degree path. During my final year, I was applying to different archaeology units but wasn’t getting anywhere. I decided to reach out to the University’s Career Service. I would absolutely credit my career to the Careers Advisor, Matt Vickers, who helped me. He opened up this whole other world to me – engineering firms that have their own in-house archaeology consultants. I was offered an interview with WSP in the UK and Matt helped me through this process, even doing a mock interview with me to make sure I was prepared for the interview.
I started work as Graduate Archaeologist at WSP in the UK in 2021 and joined SLR Consulting in August 2024. I get to travel with my job. I've been able to see so many parts of Scotland, such as Shetland and Lewis, that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I’m paid to conduct research and travel to all the beautiful parts of Scotland!
What did you gain from your time at the University and were there any experiences during your time at university which particularly helped prepare you for life after graduation?
I took a GIS course as part of my archaeology degree which allowed me to develop this skill. Being able to gain this type of experience definitely set me apart from other candidates. I use this every day in my job – I even have colleagues coming to me for help with this! I would never have thought taking this one course would help me so much. Having technological knowledge – whether this is knowing how to use a Word document, using a GIS system – is so important. You expect everyone to have the same technological literacy as you when you join the workforce but this isn’t always the case.
I was involved in the Clinton Global Initiative. The aim was to plan out something that can benefit your local community, that focused on helping the social welfare of people in the community. My friends and I created a supplementary curriculum to the current Scottish curriculum that covered history and archaeology, and delivered this to local schools. We wanted to introduce archaeology and history to children through interactive activities. To have the opportunity to engage with archaeology in this way, and share this with people who are not familiar with this field, was a huge asset to my current career. I talk to people all the time – and often they don’t have an archaeology background – so it’s important I can translate my work into a language everyone can understand. Communication skills are valuable.
I was Vice-President of the Volleyball Club. I continued playing with the University after I graduated but I am now a member of a different team. We sometimes play Edinburgh so it’s fun to go back to the Pleasance. I’ve also been involved in volleyball coaching through the University. I know it’s cliché to say extracurriculars can set you apart but this is true. The skills you learn through these opportunities are really important in developing skills you don’t even know you are developing, like leadership, communication, and resilience.
In your opinion, what is the biggest value of studying a degree in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences?
I was a STEM ambassador for a client programme which involved engineering professionals going into schools to talk about what it takes to design a bridge. I think some people were confused why archaeologists were invited. To them I would say archaeology bridges that gap between humanities and sciences. There are discussions around using ‘STEAM’ rather than ‘STEM’ – where the ‘A’ stands for arts. I love this – it highlights that archaeology is a multidisciplinary subject, it weaves between the humanities and sciences. It broadens what we typically think of as ‘science’.
Nothing that is created with science is ever created for science alone – it will always exist for a community, for people, and that’s where we archaeologists come in. We’re trained to understand people, communities, and our collective responses to change.
Do you have any highlights or a favourite memory of your time at the university?
I'm sure everyone that's ever studied at the School of History, Classics & Archaeology will say the Old Medical School is definitely a highlight if only because it’s a beautiful building. The curly fries from the Library Bar at Teviot fuelled my education. They always paired nicely with an open textbook and a study group!
A funny memory I have is our professors never getting the lights right in the Meadows Lecture Theatre. It had this fun, new-fangled lighting system that nobody could figure out – we’d either be in complete darkness or the lights were far too bright and in our face. Something about technological literacy not always being a given…
What advice would you give future students who are considering studying in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at Edinburgh?
The degree structure allowing you take outside courses was hugely beneficial. I could take geology and architectural history courses, something I was interested in, or try something new and gain new skills, like GIS. This is such an amazing opportunity and is now proving immensely useful in my career.
Take advantage of the location! You could be learning about a particular building or historical site in your lectures, and you could step outside and see it yourself! The University campus has so much to offer archaeology students – from the Old Medical School (it being a protected building) to the new Edinburgh Futures Institute which has been restored by the University. To see this happen is incredible – the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh city does this well to restore and protect these buildings and sites.
