{"id":18712,"date":"2013-11-13T17:50:39","date_gmt":"2013-11-13T17:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=18712"},"modified":"2013-11-13T17:50:39","modified_gmt":"2013-11-13T17:50:39","slug":"cardiff-character-claire-raisin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2013\/11\/13\/cardiff-character-claire-raisin\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiff Character: Claire Raisin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Working

Immaculately dressed with a sleek brown bob, it\u2019s hard to imagine Claire Raisin spending four years climbing trees in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but thousands of miles from the shores of Mauritius her extensive conservation experience is now playing a vital role in the work of an environmental charity in Wales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Claire is the director of Size of Wales, a charity which works with indigenous communities on forest projects in Africa and Latin America. Earlier this year, the charity raised \u00a32m to protect an area of rainforest equivalent to the size of Wales, as a national response to climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels great to know that Wales was the first country to do it,\u201d says Claire. \u201cWe\u2019re a small nation but we\u2019ve actually got pretty big aspirations and we\u2019ve made a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experience in the field<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hailing from the quiet village of Headley, in Hampshire, Claire first arrived in Cardiff at 18 to study ecology and environmental management. She later went on to do a Masters in Kent before successfully applying for a PHD in conservation genetics working on the Mauritius parakeet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been enthusiastic and passionate about conservation and environmental sciences in general and I absolutely loved my PHD,\u201d says Claire. \u201cI spent four months a year climbing trees, catching parrots and basically living in a log cabin in the middle of the Mauritius national park which was just fantastic, I\u2019d go back definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time for a change<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012, Claire found herself heading back to the Welsh capital and bunking up with a friend from her undergraduate years before taking on the role of partnership manager at Size of Wales. She became director of the charity in April this year. \u201cIt is not a 9 to 5 job but I\u2019ve never had a proper 9 to 5 and I don\u2019t quite know how I\u2019d cope with it to be honest,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

Claire\u2019s main responsibilities involve communicating with the forest projects overseas and with the Charity\u2019s corporate partners in Wales. \u201cLots of the other people involved in the campaign when I started came from a very charity focused background and I have managed to bridge the gap a little bit I suppose between the scientific side and the charity side of things,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having reached its initial fundraising target, Claire now hopes the charity will continue to inspire people to make a positive difference to the environment. \u201cClimate change can seem like a huge, daunting, horrible prospect,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is really important that people know that they can make a difference and that the things we do over here really do have an impact overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, as she jokes about the chaos of doing up her first home – and the white paint in her hair – Claire hints that she might not be destined for life in Cardiff forever. \u201cI\u2019m kind of at my happiest when I\u2019m wearing field clothes and I haven\u2019t brushed my hair for a few days,\u201d she says. \u201cThis role is fantastic but maybe five or ten years down the line I would like to see myself in a similar role but ideally based overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachel Carter talks climate change, catching parrots and life in Cardiff with Size of Wales director, Claire Raisin. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":18741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-18712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-no-logo"],"yoast_head":"\nCardiff Character: Claire Raisin - alt.cardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2013\/11\/13\/cardiff-character-claire-raisin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cardiff Character: Claire Raisin - 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