I’m sitting on the first high speed train in the UK, leaving St Pancras International station in about two minutes. The service only started on the 13th, hence the smell of the nice new trains. Hopefully, I’ll be travelling at a top speed of 140 mph, so I must type quickly!
Anyway, I’m fully aware of my lack of updates of late, and I duly apologise. Let me tell you what I’ve been up to.
The last eleven weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of new experiences and knowledge. I’ve just finished the exams for the “core” term of my MSc in Environmental Technology at Imperial College London. The last exam was on Friday, and today is the first time I’ve felt mentally able to reflect upon the last eleven weeks.
So, what have I learned? Well, let me give you a flavour of the courses I took: ecology; environmental economics; environmental law; environmental policy and management; pollution management and control; risk assessment and statistics.
This probably explains my previous post a couple of weeks into the course: the environment is an interdisciplinary subject, something I understand so much better now. When the exams rolled around, I found myself using information and techniques learned from all aspects of the course in each specific topic.
I know how river water becomes drinking water, how the interactions between predators and prey work in an ecosystem, the differences between an Environmental Impact Assessment and a Strategic Environmental Assessment, the application of Tort law in the UK and Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel prize winning elucidation of how a community can successfully manage a commons.
And now I also know just how little I really know. The topic is huge. There’s no way to be an expert in “the environment”. I’ll never be an ecologist, economist or lawyer, but at least now I’ll be able to talk to the people who are, in their own language. Let’s hope it makes it easier for me to explain to you how everything fits together.
Next term, by the way, will be entirely about energy. So that should be more relevant to the website!
Apologies for the lengthy pontificating, but I feel my absence deserved an explanation! As I reflect upon the term and file away my notes, I’m sure plenty of what I’ve come across will filter into this blog and the website.
Have a very merry Christmas, wherever you may be, and remember: in the wake of the Copenhagen conference going somewhat awry, in the aftermath of a global recession and feelings of general discontent, just take a walk outside and realise the miracle going on around you. It’s more amazing than you’d think.
Thanks for reading,
Michael
