Class of 2024: Charlotte Worrall

It is no surprise Charlotte Worrall won a prize for securing the highest mark for her Masters and dissertation on the MSc Tropical Marine Biology course at the School of Life Sciences.

During her research project, Charlotte went above and beyond expectations, securing her own license permits for her fieldwork and coordinating with external stakeholders for site access and sampling.

Her Masters thesis looked at how the carbon stores and gas fluxes of restored salt marshes changed over time and how these differed to natural, ancient salt marshes.

“These sites were owned by the National Trust and Essex Wildlife Trust, and I was thankful they granted me access for sampling,” explained Charlotte. “One of my sites, Northey Island, was undergoing construction activities during my sampling period, so I had to liaise with external stakeholders to coordinate sampling in accordance with health and safety procedures.”

She originally came to the University of Essex to study BSc Biological Sciences, after being drawn by the breadth of the course, the research facilities and staff expertise.

“This degree provided me with so many rewarding experiences and helped guide my research interests, which I realised was in marine/coastal environments,” she expalined. “I chose to progress my studies at Essex by studying MSc Tropical Marine Biology as I was eager to explore these research topics further.”

Charlotte is now undertaking a PhD which will focus on the development of restored salt marshes in terms of their biogeochemistry and understanding what are the most effective restoration techniques for this habitat.

“Salt marshes provide lots of benefits to humans and the environment, so it is crucial to protect and restore these habitats,” she expalined.

She is also part of a project called REWRITE (Rewilding and restoration of intertidal sediment ecosystems). This project involves sites across Europe, Canada, and the USA and focuses on the rewilding/restoration of mudflats, salt marshes and seagrass meadows to address the climate and biodiversity crises.