Profile
Karen Edwards
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About Me:
I now live in a small village in Devon with my husband but am originally from America and have dual USA/UK citizenship. I started my career as an actuary but went back to school to get a PhD in Oceanography. I love the ocean but also love to hike, cycle and read!
Andy and I on a trip to the Georgia mountains
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I was born in Massachusetts (USA) and have lived in Wisconsin, Georgia, New York City, Bermuda, London, Zurich, North Carolina, San Francisco and now Devon.
Andy and I on a trip to the Georgia mountains
Our creative solution to fixing an internal brick wall.
Over the past few (way too many) years, I have spent a fair bit of time on DIY as we have effectively gutted and are still doing up our old cob house. When not in the middle of house projects, I love nature and travelling including camping and hiking. I used to sail and scuba dive but that was when I lived somewhere with much warmer water than is generally found in the UK.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
I am a “virtual” marine biologist who studies the impact ocean currents have biology from nutrients to phytoplankton and seaweed to fish. I currently work as a marine modeller for the Environment Agency working to protect our estuarine and coastal environments and to ensure that any discharges do not cause harm.
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The combined phytoplankton macroalgae model.
My current role is to support the Environment Agency’s nuclear new build programme. I work with developers to ensure that their technical assessments are accurate and to ensure that our permits not only don’t cause harm but, under new requirements of biodiversity net gain, will help to improve the environment.
I regularly work on models of how water moves in our estuaries and coastal oceans but also how nutrients are moved and support plant growth. My PhD and later research involved modelling fish including looking at how to include fish behaviour – so “happy” fish tended to stay put while “sad” fish moved further trying to find better habitat.
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My Typical Day:
My days are pretty varied, but I wake up and do Pilates before starting work around 8am. I’ve mostly been working from home since the start of the pandemic so getting to work is pretty easy. If I’m lucky, I get to do technical work and either look at some computer code or spreadsheets, but I also spend lots of time in meetings. I generally try to get outside for a walk at lunchtime and often meet up with other people in the village doing the same! In the afternoon it’s back to work which I generally finish around 4pm. I’m starting to travel a bit more so about once a month I am out and about either for in-person meetings or to attend a conference.
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I work with a team of modellers and spend a fair bit of time planning the work that needs to be done and ensuring that everyone knows what they need to do! As part of this, I make sure I’m available to provide them with advice and guidance when needed and am often called into meetings by other team members in order to be grumpy on their behalf.
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Education:
Tracks from drogues released in a NOAA study.
I did my undergraduate degree at Valdosta State College in Georgia. I received a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.
I went back to school for a PhD in Oceanography at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. While it was a general oceanography degree, my specialty was fish modelling looking at how larval fish were dispersed by ocean currents.
Participating in a research cruise as part of my PhD.
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Qualifications:
As an American, I didn’t do GCSEs or O-Levels but did get a high school diploma.
Between my undergraduate degree and PhD, I became a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS).
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Work History:
Life cycle of the delta smelt.
Schematic of the ERSEM model.
As mentioned, after my undergraduate degree, I started work as an Actuary – this role provides statistical modelling for the insurance industry (we’re the ones that set your car insurance rates amongst other things). It brought me from Atlanta (where I grew up) to New York and Bermuda with 6 month assignments to London and Zurich.
After my PhD, I moved to San Francisco for 2 years where I worked on developing a model that looked at the growth, movement and survival of the delta smelt. We were trying to identify the potential causes of their decline in the region.
I moved from San Francisco to Exeter in the UK to work at the Met Office. At the Met Office, I was responsible for a regional model of nutrients and phytoplankton.
Finally, I moved to the Environment Agency (also in their Exeter Office) where I started as a marine modeller and spent the first couple of years working on models of the impacts of excessive nutrients to our estuaries. This role also included the work I do now on the nuclear new build programme. We went from a team of 5 to 1 (me) and now back to 9 over the past 10 years.
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Employer:
Environment Agency
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
I honestly had no idea. As a kid I wanted to be a lawyer but had no idea what they really did. I was very good in Maths so studied that at University and ended up as an Actuary.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
I did get caught skipping school once during my senior year. I also got my nose broken in an accident on the school bus!
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I was an actuary so would probably go back to that.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Queen
What's your favourite food?
Sushi
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Continued good health and better health for my husband; lots of travel adventures; a finished house and pretty kitchen.
Tell us a joke.
What's the integral of 1 over cabin d-cabin?
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