My degree of difference

Using the latest technology to look back into the past

To find out more about how our Fusion approach can benefit your BU education, visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/fusion

The results were incredible. We revealed things in the New Forest that had never been discovered before. We found an Iron Age enclosure, Roman field systems, prehistoric field systems, and dozens of prehistoric burial mounds. These were all things that had just disappeared into the woods and we were able to identify them from the air, then verify them with volunteers on the ground and bring them back to life.

That’s the sort of experience that makes archaeology so exciting to me. As a country, our cultural heritage is perhaps our greatest export. We should cherish the rich history we have, and use it to educate people. Our past can help shape our future – the climate change debate is a great example of that. By looking into the past at how our ancestors’ actions have caused environmental issues, we can hopefully avoid making the same mistakes.

Educating a new generation is something that’s really important to me, so my career has gone full circle in some ways. I’m now working for Forestry England as a Lead Historic Environment Advisor, but I’m also a Visiting Fellow back where it all began for me, at BU.

I’m hoping I can pass on some of my research, my experience and my enthusiasm to the next generation of archaeologists.