Beginning a new chapter

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

I'm Veronica and in less than two months I'll be starting my 1+3 PhD programme at the University of Exeter. Over the next four years, I'll be part of the South West Doctoral Training Programme (SWDTP), which is funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). I find it quite amusing that despite dropping Geography at the end of Year 9, I'm about to join Exeter's Geography department for my PhD!

My research will utilise creative social science methodologies to investigate the visual communication of climate and food futures. The interdisciplinary and collaborative project will combine my interests in climate change, food systems and photography, and I'm thrilled to have an all-female supervisory team made up of the following incredible academics: Dr Saffron O'Neill (Geography, Exeter), Dr Angela Cassidy (Centre for Rural Policy Research, Exeter) and Dr Julie Barnett (Psychology, Bath). I love that both Saffron and Angela have spent time within the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, where I completed my undergraduate degree. Academia can be a pretty small world!

The first year of my programme will be an MRes in Sustainable Futures at the university's Cornwall campus in Falmouth. Having already lived in Exeter for a year, I am excited about getting the opportunity to live in a new city (okay, it's actually a town) while I complete my second master's degree.

I wanted to start this blog for three main reasons:

• To document my PhD journey over the next four years

• To disseminate my research findings (when I eventually have some)

• And to share tips and tricks for scientific graphic design, including for designing infographics, data visualisations and academic reports

I chose the blog name "V for Visual" as this combines the first letter of my name with what is going to be a recurring theme of this blog – visuals!

A bit of an introduction...

I'm Veronica, a social scientist and visual communicator. I was born in the US and after growing up in the Netherlands, I moved to the UK for university. I completed my undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, before moving to Exeter to study my MSc in Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture.

Since finishing my master's degree, I worked as a social science research assistant, before becoming a freelance visual communicator. Starting my own business was something I never imagined doing, but I'm proud of what I managed to achieve in the first year, including working with multiple clients, seeing my designs in print and hosting my first design workshop for researchers. I've also started developing a network of academics and science communicators throughout the UK and more broadly, a network that I'm hoping to continue building throughout my PhD.

Although I know I will likely face many challenges, I believe the range of skills I have developed over the last two years will compliment my PhD journey. As much as I've enjoyed being a freelance designer, I'm excited to get back into the world of social science research!

Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you again soon!

p.s. In addition to this academic blog, I also have an adventure and photography blog that brings me great joy. I anticipate there will be a lot of posts about adventures on the South West Coast Path over the next four years! If you're interested, you can find it at: www.covestocliffs.com.