Ellen Salter
Subject: BA Geography
Graduated: 2017
Place of work: Simply Sustainable (2022 to present), previously Arup (2017 to 2021)
Position: Senior Sustainability Consultant
What made you choose to study geography at the university?
For as long as I can remember, I have been passionate about sustainability and positive environmental action. Growing up, I watched the film The Day After Tomorrow, and was immediately struck by how the impacts of climate change were neither felt equally nor fairly. Throughout school, I realised that practical solutions to some of the world’s most challenging environmental problems were framed and achieved through geography – and in particular, the study of human geography.
I decided to apply to the University of Nottingham for the breadth of depth of topics across the course (as well as the green campus, the great programme of sports, and last but not least, the university being ranked the World’s Most Sustainable University at the time.
What skills did you acquire during this time?
During this time, I develop a great number of problem-solving and critical thinking skills across the topics and disciplines within geography. The world’s social and environmental challenges cannot be solved in silos and the course at Nottingham teaches you and equips you with the skills to adopt a systems-thinking approach to realising the opportunities and benefits of different measures and solutions as well as mitigating the negative impacts and risks – a very important skill for climate and environmental justice.
Whilst being particularly interested by the topics within human geography, the course at Nottingham importantly presents compulsory modules in climate science and statistical analysis which are challenging yet pivotal for tackling climate change relevant to different groups, regions, and geographies.
What are your fondest memories from your time at the school?
Geography was a great course to meet-like minded individuals and lifelong friends. There was a great field trip to the Lake District where we conducted field work at Bowcastle Tarn and explored the towns and villages of the area. Collective confusion at the entire GIS module was highly amusing (in hindsight), as well as a group project designing and enhancing the value of a farm. The farm project felt like a cross-between grand designs and Sims – and I think our grades on that module highlighted that there is more to community design than aesthetics!
Where are you working now and what does the role involve?
As of January 2022, I am working for a global management consulting firm, focusing on ESG and sustainable business. I am a Senior Sustainability Consultant leading a small team providing sustainability and climate change advisory to organisations. This involves providing ongoing advisory and support to business with all things sustainability including setting and realising a pathway to net zero carbon, developing sustainability strategies, and supporting companies to realise the benefits of the just transition.
Previously, I worked for Arup – a global engineering firm – where I worked across multidisciplinary projects in the built environment to enhance the sustainability and climate resilience of projects.
What advice would you give to someone considering following a similar career path?
Make the most of the University of Nottingham’s career service. The team provides great advice on key skills for interviews, enhancing your CV and application documents, as well as providing a great summer internship programme.
I would also like to emphasise that you can shape your career and your dream role – it might not exist yet. By attending the University of Nottingham, you are equipped with incredible technical skills and knowledge that is often newly emerging or not yet arrived in the workplace. Once you find a role and align with the ethos of an organisation, you have the profound ability to shape the role and make it your own.
There’s untold value in driving sustainability forwards and graduates are often best-placed to tackle the most complex global issues; as well as raising the voices of current and future generations.