{"id":28066,"date":"2015-11-20T17:21:56","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T17:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=28066"},"modified":"2015-11-20T17:21:56","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T17:21:56","slug":"cardiff-character-merryn-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is unlikely that you\u2019ll often find the worlds of science and art together. But sitting in a caf\u00e9 bar at the Gate Arts Centre, Dr Merryn Thomas <\/a>talks about her work on natural hazards and sea level change whilst her photography hangs on the walls around her. The two worlds couldn\u2019t be more intertwined than in this moment.<\/p>\n

\"Merryn

Science and the sea<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merryn<\/a> studied Geography at Oxford University before doing an MSc in the Science of Natural Hazards at Bristol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did flood modelling of sea level rise\u201d, explains Merryn. \u201cThat was all mathematical modelling and I\u2019m not really a mathematician\u201d, she comments, \u201cso that was an experience!\u201d The silver bangles jingle on her wrist accompanying the music coming from the rehearsals in the studio next door.<\/p>\n

However, it was her interest in sea level change that led her to do a PhD at Cardiff University for 5 years, which she discovered she said by typing into Google \u2018public perceptions of sea level rise PhD\u2019. She is a now a Research Associate at the University.<\/p>\n

This interest in sea level change partly stemmed from the close tie Merryn has felt to the sea. She even admits herself; \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever be properly happy unless I\u2019m next to the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merryn grew up next to the sea in Plymouth but considers the Isles of Scilly as home. But despite working in Cardiff, she now lives in Swansea with her partner; a move she says was partly influenced by the desire to be closer to the sea.<\/p>\n

Photography the hobby<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although fully invested in researching perception of sea level change, Merryn also has a love of photography.<\/p>\n

Between completing her masters at Bristol and doing her PhD at Cardiff, Merryn worked at The Nature Picture Library, an agency for nature and wildlife photographers. It was here she learnt photography skills that allowed it to become a hobby for her.<\/p>\n

\n

“I don’t think I’ll every be properly happy unless I’m next to the sea.”<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cOne of my colleagues\u201d, explains Merryn, \u201ctaught me how to edit photos and got me into photography. I started doing wedding photography in my spare time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Merryn now supplies the Picture Library with her own pictures. So, did she ever consider doing photography professional?<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far no,\u201d she says, shaking her head. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to keep photography in my back pocket because it\u2019s really interesting to have. But no I really love my job and don\u2019t envisage doing photography as my main job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fusing art and science<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Merryn sits in the Gate caf\u00e9, her SeaChange exhibition is next door displaying her black and white photographs of the Severn Estuary along with quotes from local people whom she interviewed during her research. The SeaChange exhibition itself is based on her PhD research about perception of sea level change in the Severn Estuary from the local people who live there. It fuses Merryn\u2019s three major influences: her PhD, the sea and photography.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also an experiment on how to engage people\u201d, she says, \u201cI\u2019m hoping to write a paper from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Merryn

Although Merryn wasn\u2019t surprised with people\u2019s detachment from rising sea levels, she admits she wasn\u2019t expecting to find out how close people were to the estuary and how her own perceptions of it changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first moved to Cardiff, I must admit, I was one of those people that thought it was just a muddy and a bit boring\u201d, reveals Merryn.<\/p>\n

However this is certainly not the case anymore as the SeaChange exhibition proves the striking and varied scenery of the estuary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, it\u2019s powerful\u201d, says Merryn smiling. \u201cThat was initially surprising but then once you get to know the estuary you kind of see what they mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

[youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8q3r-54b2dw[\/youtube]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University Researcher talks science, sea level and photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":330,"featured_media":28068,"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":[18,10],"tags":[57,945,4960,2520,4826,4961,4962,4963,4539],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-28066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-uncategorized","tag-cardiff-university","tag-climate-change","tag-merryn-thomas","tag-photography","tag-research","tag-rising-tide","tag-sea-levels","tag-seachange","tag-the-gate-arts-centre"],"yoast_head":"\nCardiff Character: Merryn Thomas - alt.cardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Merryn Thomas discusses her life and her SeaChange exhibition\" \/>\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\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas - alt.cardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Merryn Thomas discusses her life and her SeaChange exhibition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"alt.cardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-20T17:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Phillips\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren Phillips\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/\",\"name\":\"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas - alt.cardiff\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-20T17:21:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/2ab82d5cefa7f1462b91bb99937df862\"},\"description\":\"Merryn Thomas discusses her life and her SeaChange exhibition\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":220},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/\",\"name\":\"alt.cardiff\",\"description\":\"If it\u2019s offbeat and in Cardiff then it\u2019s online here.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/2ab82d5cefa7f1462b91bb99937df862\",\"name\":\"Lauren Phillips\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/3dc7063106369778bb91d9784232b77f\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7708ff9746aff3f2516d5572f38a7336973c7fc17054ba50f0e60cefed10d274?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7708ff9746aff3f2516d5572f38a7336973c7fc17054ba50f0e60cefed10d274?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lauren Phillips\"},\"description\":\"Lauren is a trainee journalist at Cardiff School of Journalism.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/author\/phillipsl\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas - alt.cardiff","description":"Merryn Thomas discusses her life and her SeaChange exhibition","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas - alt.cardiff","og_description":"Merryn Thomas discusses her life and her SeaChange exhibition","og_url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/","og_site_name":"alt.cardiff","article_published_time":"2015-11-20T17:21:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":220,"url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lauren Phillips","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren Phillips","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/","name":"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas - alt.cardiff","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-20T17:21:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/2ab82d5cefa7f1462b91bb99937df862"},"description":"Merryn Thomas discusses her life and her SeaChange exhibition","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2015\/11\/CC-Image-edited.jpg","width":480,"height":220},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/20\/cardiff-character-merryn-thomas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cardiff Character: Merryn Thomas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/","name":"alt.cardiff","description":"If it\u2019s offbeat and in Cardiff then it\u2019s online here.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/2ab82d5cefa7f1462b91bb99937df862","name":"Lauren Phillips","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/3dc7063106369778bb91d9784232b77f","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7708ff9746aff3f2516d5572f38a7336973c7fc17054ba50f0e60cefed10d274?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7708ff9746aff3f2516d5572f38a7336973c7fc17054ba50f0e60cefed10d274?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lauren Phillips"},"description":"Lauren is a trainee journalist at Cardiff School of Journalism.","url":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/author\/phillipsl\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/330"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28066"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=28066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}