Sarah Coates Placement – Small World Consulting Ltd.
I conducted a placement at Small World Consulting during the summer of 2023. The company is a leading sustainability consultancy based at Lancaster University, UK, aiming to provide carbon footprints to organisations and businesses including their full supply chain. They are also experts in describing carbon footprints based on land use, which has been applied to UK national parks and estates. They are also involved in research into the ethical side of sustainability and have a holistic approach to assessing and improving the sustainability of companies, which includes their broader environmental and social impacts.
My role was to assist in consulting for multiple different projects, for a range of clients, including work for the national parks, helping with landscape and business carbon footprints and research into the sustainability of the global food system. I used my analytical skills in R and excel to provide data analysis to go towards landscape and sector-wide carbon footprints. For example, I helped provide analysis for a nearby country estate to determine the impact of their land-use on carbon emissions. I also conducted some fact-checking of a company’s sustainability claims for a different client. I had to adapt my skills to new situations and learn how to fit in within the setting of a small company. I developed new skills to bring back with me to my PhD, in particular softer skills of how to better communicate and work with others.
During my time in Lancaster, I integrated well into the group, and we also enjoyed a company walk, ending at the beautiful Williamson park. When I wasn’t working, I was able to enjoy the sights across the city, such as the castle and central square. I went on many nature walks, including walks along the canal and the beautiful River Lune.
It was enjoyable to work with others to achieve common goals, as well as to work on something more applied than my PhD project. I found it really rewarding to be part of a team providing solutions to current world issues. I would highly recommend a placement in industry to anyone who is interested in seeing how their PhD-level skills translate to areas beyond academia.
