All information about your new ESSS 2014/15 Committee.

Hi guys! My name is Abigail and I am so excited to be your president this year! I hail from Brighton, land of the green party, and am interested in renewable energy, sustainability and environmental management in the developing world.

I love singing and am have been involved in several Performing Arts productions here at Southampton. I am an expert white water rafter and have recently won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. I hold the Guinness World Record for the most impressive solo human pyramid which I achieved whilst herding llamas in Peru for the summer. I’m excellent at making up achievements to seem more impressive. I also enjoy baking, knitting, and going out with the crazy ES gang.

Your committee really hopes to bring the different year groups together through a variety of different events and activities throughout the course of the year.

Please feel free to approach me with any questions, problems, ideas and feedback you might have along the way. Have an amazing year!

Hi! I’m Michelle Gibson and I’m your Vice President for this academic year. I’m a tiny girl originally from Croydon and am on the Environmental Change pathway, with particular interests in climate change and waste management. My role this year is to write the ESSS newsletter (“Environment Matters”) and to assist the President in the overall running of the society. If you’d like to write an article for the newsletter then please do get in touch! (mcg1g13@soton.ac.uk) I’d love to hear from you.

I’m actively involved in Southampton University’s Christian Union and enjoy watching Rugby – though sadly I haven’t been gifted with the ability to actually play! I’m really excited about what our committee has planned for the upcoming year and hope that you guys will all settle into the ESSS family. I love meeting new people so if you see me around then please introduce yourself and feel free to ask me any questions you may have!

Hi, I'm Emma, the new secretary! In this role I will help to design the new hoodies for the winter period and organise important meetings for the committee. My particular interests are in forests so it is great to be next to a national park like the New Forest. Last year I helped to run an environmentally-friendly festival called Environmental Rock, which is worth definitely worth a visit (seeing as it is at the Hobbit pub!). Good luck in your first year!

Hi everyone! I’m Yohannah, the Treasurer! My role is to look after the money in our society account and to make sure that we’re able to afford what we need to make our society as great as possible! Being in charge of the finances may seem a bit daunting but I’m excited to ensure our capital is put to good use by investing in amazing conservation trips, socials and day trips this coming year.

I’m from a little town that no one has heard of before called Cheam, in Surrey. I love the great outdoors whether it is hiking, snorkelling or hugging trees. Not all my time is spent outdoors of course; I am an enthusiastic baker and bake cakes that I think even Mary Berry would be proud of!

In terms of the course, I’m on the Sustainability and Management pathway. I’m particularly interested in renewable resources as a means of totally replacing current energy sources as well as marine wildlife conservation. If you have any questions about university life or the course in general, please do not hesitate to talk to me or anyone on the committee!

I wish you all the very best of luck in your first year and my main advice: enjoy every minute of it!

Hi I’m Dan and I’m from rural Kent (it takes too long to explain exactly where). I enjoy the outdoors and all sports- from rock climbing to martial arts as well as being a big Arsenal fan. As you may expect from my position in the committee I’m very interested in sustainability and environmental management.

If I’m doing a good job then you may find me a bit annoying as I’ll be sending out reminders telling you about all the great opportunities you have at this wonderful university to do some environmentally themed volunteering ( which looks fantastic on your CV). If you have any ideas about any suitable events we could do please let me know. You may hear that I, “I tick all the boxes”, feel free to ask me why!

Hi I'm Angus and I'm your conservation officer this year. My role is to run conservation trips throughout the year and to find potential conservation opportunities. If you have any questions email me at awf1g13@soton.ac.uk.

Hello! My name is Dominika and I am your International Officer. I come from Slovakia and I have been in UK for three years now. In that time I attended English course and IELTS examination and worked here, then I did Science Foundation Year and progressed onto Environmental Science degree. I am on Biodiversity and Conservation pathway as ecology and conservation are my passion. You can also find me in SU Conservation Volunteers society, which I am president of.

As your International Officer I will organise events where we can get to know each other better and chat without feeling bad about the way we speak in English. I will show you some local nice places for enternatainment and good classic English pub meals. I will also try to help you if you would like any advice about the course itself or if you face any problems. I believe we all will have fun and nice time and I am looking forward to meeting you :)

Hi my name is Nathan, I am your student officer for this year. I am here to help out with your transition into university and to help with any problems you have. Please don't hesistate to contact me if you have any questions or worries about the course or uni in general. Looking forward to meeting you all, here's to a fab year!

Hi guys, I’m Emily (one half of your social sec team for 2014/15!)  I live in the middle of nowhere in Somerset so I am a country girl at heart!  I took a gap ‘yah’ and did some travelling before coming to uni last year.  The whole ES team is awesome and Jack and I will make sure we organise some amazing socials for you guys, alcoholic and non-alcoholic ones, and make sure we get everyone involved and integrate the years so you get an awesome group of friends, after all you will be spending the next 3-4 years together!  Looking forward to meeting you all in September!

Hi I’m Jack, one half of your social sec team and along with Emily hope to provide you with some great nights out and other socials throughout the year. One of our main aims is to integrate you freshers with the rest of the year and make sure that between the years of ES students there is a strong sense of friendship. I enjoy partaking in a range of sports at uni and hope to indulge some of these interests with some of you guys in co-ordination with your sports secs Rob and Sophie at various points throughout the upcoming year.

Academically I am on the biodiversity and conservation pathway and yes that does mean I have my eye on the David Attenborough lifestyle at some point in the future. I am always willing to discuss anything relating to ES with anyone; although that’s probably best left to the non-drinking socials.

Hope to see you all in the new term, bring on the freshers social!

Hi everyone I’m Sophie your female sports sec for the 2014-15 academic year.  I come from the small island of Guernsey and live on my family’s farm so love everything outdoorsy – there’s no such thing as too much fresh air! I’m mainly interested in biodiversity conservation with a passion for the environment as a whole.  On the side of my studies I like to keep active by participating in sports. I have been a keen horse rider for over 15 years and also enjoy swimming, netball and any sort of water sport – being from an island surrounded by sea, the beach is where I feel most at home.

As sports sec I’ll be looking to organise, along with Rob Branch (male sports sec), intra mural sports teams for ES so we can compete against the other courses and their faculties.  If you don’t want to compete but still want to have involvement with a team I’m prepared to organise some fun practices and friendly games too!

It is also my aim to arrange some special events throughout the year - days out on the common with a game of rounders or ultimate Frisbee. There is also the potential for a riding trip in the New Forest and organised fitness sessions e.g. swim sets, city runs and circuits.

Team sport is a great way to supplement your student lifestyle and you’ll make many great friends in the process. I hope I can encourage everyone to partake in some ES sporting activity, competitive or not!

Hi I'm Rob! I'll be working with Sophie this year to organise intramural sports for Environmental Sciences and hopefully get some teams together to compete in both league and tournament sports. As well as competitive sports, we also hope to organise casual sports using the University's facilities and Southampton's green spaces such as the common in order to get as many people involved as possible. I'm currently studying on the biodiversity and conservation pathway and hope to work in the protection of endangered species. Personally, I enjoy swimming, running and racquet sports and want to improve on all of them this year! Looking forward to meeting all you freshers and hope you have a great year!

Hi guys, I'm Lucia, your new media and communications officer! My job is to make sure everyone knows what's going on via Facebook, Twitter and this website. I'll keep you up to date on everything from socials to job and internship opportunities. Also, any questions or queries you may have about ES can be asked through these sites.

I'm studying on the Biodiversity and Conservation pathway and am interested in reintroduction and conservation of endangered and threatened species' and how we and these species need to adapt to a changing world. 

We have lots of exciting ideas for the society for the next year with serious and not so serious activities and opportunities! Hope you all get involved, and if you have any queries, don't hesitate to contact us.

Looking forward to a great year!