Together for our planet: alumni stories

The University’s global alumni community numbers almost 100,000 graduates, working in a diverse range of industries and careers. Since its foundation, the University’s mission has been to deliver ‘education with a purpose’, preparing our students for a fast-moving world and transforming it for the better.

As the global community comes together to focus on the climate emergency, seven Stirling alumni working in climate and environment-facing roles outline their contribution, and how their time spent at Stirling was a stepping stone to their success.

Katriina Virtanen

BA (Hons) Journalism Studies and Politics 2013
Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management Specialist, ELY-keskus

My degree from Stirling equipped me with skills to work in varied roles in the charity sector in London and as a teacher in China before choosing to pursue an MSc degree in Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management from Lund University. After finishing my postgraduate degree, I’ve been a civil servant in Finland working as a climate change adaptation specialist. I’m also training to become an international civil protection specialist, so that I can support global preparedness efforts. Urgent adaptation is recognised as a COP26 goal, which I am happy to see.

Neil Niru Dorrian

BSc (Hons) Marine Biology 2006
Co-Founder, Whalefish

I studied Marine Biology at Stirling with a dream to work with marine mammals. I am now a Senior Environmental Advisor for large-scale industrial projects and a Marine Mammal Biologist and Chartered Marine Scientist. In 2013 along with fellow Stirling graduates, I Co-Founded Whalefish – an international non-profit marine conservation outreach organisation whose mission is to connect, share, and inspire the next generation of marine ambassadors and conservation scientists through community projects education collaboration.

In 2018 I was privileged to receive the IMarEST Outstanding Contribution Award – Marine Ambassador, who recognised my significant contribution to advocacy, communication, outreach, policy, and public service in the marine sector. I actively work in ocean and environmental clean-up initiatives and marine fauna disentanglement and rescue. I have also supported Stirling’s future marine science graduates through the Stirling Alumni Mentoring Programme. I hope to see COP26 address the plastic pollution crisis affecting our ecosystems and real tangible solutions and more commitment and action from governments on cleaner transports and technologies.

Emily Farnworth

BSc (Hons) Environmental Science/Management 1994
Co-Director, Centre for Climate Engagement at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge

I have over 25 years of experience working with businesses, governments and non-profit organisations to support the transition to a low-carbon economy and have worked across multi-stakeholder groups and within specific industry sectors to collaborate on solutions to tackle climate change. I was previously the Head of Climate Initiatives at the World Economic Forum where I was involved in setting up the Climate Governance Initiative (now hosted at the Centre for Climate Engagement), the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, the Mission Possible Partnership and the Natural Climate Solutions Alliance.

I continue to stay engaged in a range of organisations working to accelerate climate action. I am chair of the RE100 Advisory Committee, a member of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition Advisory Group and a member of the We Mean Business Grants Advisory Committee.

I selected my course at Stirling at a time when it was the only University in the UK that offered the opportunity to study environmental science alongside management and this was foundational for my career working with businesses to support their response to environmental challenges. I am looking forward to COP26 creating more awareness of the urgency to act, and I’m expecting further commitments from business and investors to demonstrate short term action.

Anton Immink

MSc Aquaculture 1996
CEO, ThinkAqua

I came to Stirling for the MSc in Aquaculture in 1995, specifically because of the international network and reputation of the Institute of Aquaculture. It worked! I’ve built a career in international development projects funded by the UK and Scottish Governments, the EU and multilateral donors including the World Bank and the UN; and worked with amazing researchers, NGOs, farmers and seafood buyers across almost every continent.

I now run a charity called ThinkAqua, which is working globally to make aquaculture more sustainable and inclusive. Over the last 25 years the challenges of dealing with the causes and impacts of climate change have become more central to the work we do. It would be great to see real commitments and action from COP26 on protecting and restoring ecosystems, but more broadly action from us all on sustainable consumption.

Doug Evans

BSc (Hons) Environmental Science and Biology 1982
Retired

I recently retired having spent the previous 2O years working at the European Topic Centre for Biological Diversity in Paris, part of the European Environment Agency. My work was mostly concerned with networks of protected areas in the European Union under the Birds & Habitats Directive and in Europe more widely under the Council of Europe’s Bern Convention.

I used the understanding of the natural world gained Through my BSc from Stirling on a daily basis. The various courses I took in subjects such as Ecology, Climatology, Hydrology, Soil Science and Geology all helped give me the background I needed to understand the biodiversity of Europe.

The issues of biodiversity and climate change are closely linked. Although in the past they have often been viewed as two separate topics, it is now clear that they have to be addressed together, with the natural world giving solutions to problems caused by climate change. This has become more and more evident over the last decade.

Lorenzo Scala

BSc (Hons) Marine Biology 2006
Co-Founder, Whalefish and Project Manager, Seiche

I arrived in Stirling in 2002 full of enthusiasm to embark on what I assumed would lead to a career studying sharks, my childhood passion. Instead, I completed my undergraduate degree with a dissertation project on bacterial genetics and followed up with a Master’s thesis on deep-sea fisheries using underwater cameras to map the sea floor.

Marine sciences are rich in opportunity and can lead to many unexpected twists along a fulfilling career path full of challenges, reward, and adventure! Nowadays I work for a company which specialise in underwater sound and technology to monitor the marine environment. I recently returned from a trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) with the Ocean Cleanup Project, where I was responsible for key technology to monitor marine life interactions in the vicinity of a clean-up system designed to remove plastics from the ocean.

Being involved in projects like The Ocean Cleanup brings home the far-reaching impact we have had on the marine environment from plastic pollution but also the amazing success that we can still achieve to reverse these devastating impacts with innovation and collaboration. I think this echoes the wider challenges of the global climate crisis and there is still hope that a reversal of the tragic consequences of the way we have lived our lives in the past can be overcome with the choices we make now for our future.

I am proud to be a part of the Stirling alumni community, where I have been able to mentor students embarking on a career in marine science. Their future aspirations and opportunities will be decisive in shaping our planets, and they must be given the tools and support from us now, if we are to get there together.

Juli Titherington

MSc Environmental Management 2006
Environment Advisor, Forestry and Land Scotland

I completed a BA in Environmental Science, at Bucknell University in the US. To better understand how people lived, I spent five years travelling around other countries, including Europe, Asia, and Australia, culminating with training in the Conservation Corps programme in New Zealand. I then decided to return to Scotland and undertake a Masters in Environmental Management at Stirling; I needed to take the theory and observations of the previous few years and start to focus on a career of action.

I’ve worked for an engineering firm, Scottish Natural Heritage, various ecological consultancies, and now Forestry and Land Scotland, on projects ranging from private dwellings, up to the largest infrastructure project in Europe, and now rewilding.

The COP26 issue that concerns me most is sustainable nature-based solutions. We need to act now on climate change and biodiversity crises (as two related but different emergencies). However, there needs to be actions that are socially just, outcome based, and truly ambitious and creative. My current job allows me to learn more about the complex interactions between woodlands, peatlands and waterbodies as carbon sinks, but crucially, I also make direct decisions and see them through on the ground. Policies without follow through are just words.