Profile
Liam Taylor
My CV
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Education:
University of Leeds, University of Exeter, Exeter College, West Exe High School
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Qualifications:
MSc Geography, BSc Geography, A-Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Geography, AS-Level in English Language, Extended Project, GCSEs include Music, French and Electronic Engineering (you don’t need to decide your future during your GCSEs!)
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Work History:
Ryman Stationery, University of Exeter (I worked in the Print Room, did campus tours and created free online courses for people to learn about climate change), University of Leeds (I help teach students and lead sessions on climate change for school groups)
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Current Job:
PhD Student
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About Me:
I study icy mountains using space lasers. One day I want to be a mad professor.
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Read more
Hi! I’m Liam. I’m from Leeds, but you can also find me most weekends rambling around the Yorkshire Dales. My guilty pleasures are musicals (Greatest Showman anyone?) and I’ve recently got into making clay figurines. I can play the flute, and I’m learning how to play the violin. I’m a big supporter of equality and diversity in science – in particular encouraging more LGBTQ+ students to become scientists.
Here I am in the Arctic (it was very windy!)
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Glaciers are really important to lots of people all around the world. They are big frozen rivers of ice that flow really slowly (a few meters every year). They only form where it is cold enough, so that’s usually at the poles and high in mountain regions. My work focusses on mountain glaciers – because millions of people across Earth rely on them for water. At the end of a glacier, they begin to melt as they enter the warmer air. This is perfectly normal and, because glaciers are fresh water, this water is used by mountain communities for drinking. The trouble is, climate change is making glaciers melt much faster – so in some parts of the world, the water is coming so fast that people are being flooded and they might not have water for much longer.
Glaciers in Peru
This was a glacier I visited in the Arctic!
So, we should probably have good ways of looking at these glaciers, right?! The main problem is that they’re soooo far away from basic infrastructure like roads and cities. So I’m using two methods to look after them. The first uses a satellite that pings a wave all the way to Earth, which bounces off the glacier and back to the satellite. Think of it like a giant space laser. This tells me whether the glacier is growing or shrinking. The second method involves using drones. If we pop a camera on the bottom of a drone and take thousands of images, we can stitch the images together to make a 3D model. If we keep going back to the glacier to get more 3D models, we can see which bits are changing and how fast.
Glaciers are ENORMOUS! Can you spot the seal?
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My Typical Day:
There is no typical day!
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There is no such thing as a normal day! I go to University every day and usually begin work at 9am. Sometimes I have teaching, or I work with schools in the local community to do events about climate change. Most often I have a free day where I get to decide what to do myself. There is nobody telling me what time to come in or giving me deadlines, so I have to be quite strict with myself to get the work done. A lot of my work uses satellite data, so I’m at my desk processing this. However, I have also spent time on glaciers in Peru installing sensors to monitor the way the ice moves.
This is a satellite station in the Arctic that receives all of my data.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Bring virtual reality into schools so you can see the impacts of climate change from your classroom!
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What I do to help Planet Earth:
At home, I recycle, walk instead of drive, wear more jumpers instead of putting the heating on, and I only eat plant-based meals (I recently discovered vegan gummy bears – woah. Delicious).
I also try to learn as much as possible about the impacts of climate change in different parts of the world from the people living there. We need to hear the voices of the people who are being impacted directly to fully understand what is going on. So, watching documentaries and reading books that have been produced by people experiencing the first-hand impacts is really important.
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The CHRISTMAS LECTURE related to my work:
My work studies the way ice impacts our environment, so it sort of relates to them all! Ice erodes rocks and is a big part of the long-term climate cycle that was explored in Engine Earth. 50% of all sea-level rise is from ice melt, mostly from mountain glaciers, which forms an important part of Water World. And, of course, as the atmosphere warms, more ice melts – and this impacts icy regions the most, as we discovered in Up in the Air.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
A bit nerdy
What did you want to be after you left school?
I had no idea! I just kept on in education because I knew I loved learning new things.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Is that you, mum?
Who is your favourite singer or band?
I have a sweet spot for musicals...
What's your favourite food?
Doughnuts. Any time of day.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To visit Antarctica, to run a marathon and to be able to sing!
Tell us a joke.
What do you call a camel with no humps? Humphrey.
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