Now that I have my feet grounded in the scientific literature my next goal is to get my first data chapter going, which is an exciting and terrifying prospect. This is a much more involved process than for a undergraduate or masters courses with a lot more hoops to jump through. First step is to design the research itself. This in itself is a challenge as you want to create a robust experimental design which is going to produce novel and reliable results. But information on how to do this seems to b scant for environmental science. I have an idea of what I need to include but it's mainly intuition and a googling. The importance of getting this foundation right can't be understated. A ropy experiment design is just going to give you more trouble down the line, and will be ripped to shreds when your work gets reviewed. After this comes Ethics and health and safety. For many these sections may seem like a chore. But it's a process that needs detailed thought and by conducting this you can feedback and refine your research design. It does not mean it's an enjoyable process!
When I have all of this in order I can progress to selecting sites. Through collaboration with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) I am in the process of trying to find landowners with wetlands who would be keen to get involved. This seems like the most time consuming process. Just simply locating who to talk with in such a large government body is a challenge, but luckily through my Hydronation contacts I've been guided by a brilliant adviser so far.
Initially, I thought this whole process would be a lot quicker. But I'm glad that I slowed down, put some thought into it and refined the details. It's exciting as a early career researcher to just jump in and get working. But by stepping back and spending some time analysing the best course a lot of difficulty and extra work can be avoided.
