Aileen Scott
Start date: 04-10-2021
Academic department: Life Sciences
Title of research: Beetle Evolution and Climate Change
Academic supervisor: Professor Alfried Vogler
Native country: Glasgow, UK
How has the scholarship award enabled you to pursue your ambitions?
Without the Scholarship I would not have been able to come to Imperial. This funding has given me the freedom to move to London and pursue my research idea.
Why did you choose to study at Imperial?
I chose to study at Imperial because I wanted to work with Professor Alfried Vogler and his research group. After finishing my Master's, I became interested in the idea of studying beetle extinctions and climate change in the deep past to give an insight into extinction risk for future climate projections. I approached Alfried, a leader in the field of beetle evolution, and he helped me to develop my idea into a proposal. I am grateful for Alfried’s support and enthusiasm going forwards.
What have you been up to since you started?
Beetle evolution is a new field for me, so I have spent a lot of time researching what is already known and what might be possible for my project. I have a few different ideas that I am exploring at the moment. I am also learning about phylogenetics and how to build phylogenetic trees. Overall, I feel lucky to have joined a great team of researchers based at the Natural History Museum.