A round of updates from FIRE Lab

We have been posting on the FIRE Lab blog for around 7 months now, and we recently held a lab meeting, since Sayali returned, and decided we would move to writing a blog post every two weeks instead of weekly.  So you will be hearing less from us, but we hope that when do hear from us, we have a lot of exciting things to share!

We also have a few other updates to share as our group continues to grow and so do the interesting research and engagement opportunities.

Last week I walked the Tawe River, starting in Swansea with our collaborator Rose Davies. Rose and I took the opportunity to test out walk and draw as a method for engagement and creative expression as we strolled along the river. Rose has been sharing a few of the lovely sketches she made, and some reflections, from our walk over on her blog Scribblah. I also got my hands dirty and had a go at the walk and draw with charcoal. It was a lovely and interesting way to spend a Saturday along the Tawe River and Swansea Canal! We did good work to sort out the first way that we will utilise walk and draw in our project. 

Sketch of Cycle Route 43 and Tawe River near Pontardawe and charcoal covered hands.

Today I met with two local students, George and Rose, and their mum and dad about different ways we could collaborate to raise awareness about fishes and rivers. George and Rose shared their first v-log that they have put together about local crab species, and we chatted about how we can engage local children in initiatives related to our rivers here in South Wales. As those who know me might have guessed, we also discussed the idea of a World Fish Migration Day event along George and Rose’s local river. Stay tuned for updates on some rather fishy business. 

Sayali, recently returned from India and is back to working on the Global River Obstruction Database, and framing her own research questions in relation to built infrastructure and rivers. We’ll hear from Sayali in a few weeks about some ideas related to these research directions. 

This summer, we also have Loren Gittings and Kherlen Shinebayer joining FIRE Lab. They will be exploring different questions about freshwater ecosystems for their MSc summer projects, and we will hear from Loren and Kherlen later in June about their projects. We are all really excited to have them both working with us this summer!

I am off for a week in Australia, revisiting where I worked during my PhD and working with collaborators there on a community engagement project and potential research directions in the region. It’s an ongoing collaboration that is building off ideas proposed for the research program here in South Wales. 

In the next few week’s you’ll also get updates from James and Tara about recent field trip adventures, and developments around the What is Water event(s). Thanks to all for following, and we look forward to sharing our northern hemisphere summer with you.