Time has just flown by and I have reached week 3 of my Summer 1 Research Project, investigating interventions to reduce soil loss off of agricultural land. I have found my research really interesting so far, and although my progress hasn't been the most chronological, I feel like I'm in a good place. 

A highlight so far has been meeting with the Agricultural Team from the Wear Rivers Trust, a local body which oversees management of the Wear river and its sub-catchments. My supervisor and I have had a couple of virtual meetings with them to discuss how I might be able to produce research outputs which can compliment the work they have already done, as well as the possibility of talking to some local farmers about their experiences with soil erosion. I am hopeful that even if the opportunity to speak to stakeholders directly is limited, that I will be able to produce an accessible research poster which can be shared with the Wear Rivers Trust and local farmers, to show the scale of soil erosion and how it might be reduced in a study specific to the local area.  

My research hasn't been without its challenges though! I have had to get my head around some new technical knowledge, such as how to use the programming language R, as well as learning how to run the model which I will be using. This involves creating my own datasets using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and R to then run through the model. Although for a while I felt that my progress with this was slow, my supervisor assured me that this feeling is to be expected, and it will all come together in due course. 

Currently, I am forming a full draft of my literature review, as well as polishing up my R skills ready to run the model and hopefully speak to some local stakeholders. 

Wish me luck!