After graduating with an honours degree in botany and ecology from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, I was looking for a chance to improve my understanding of the environmental field outside of South Africa. MESPOM has been a great opportunity to meet other people from all over the world and gain new perspectives on what the environmental field is really all about.

Lydia Press tragically died in a climbing accident during holidays in French Alps on May 2nd, 2008. The MESPOM community is in deep sorrow because of this terrible loss. Here is the Daily Mail article about Lydia and what has happened (see also The Sun). Tributes and photos can be shared here or at Lasting Tribute. A memorial gathering to celebrate Lydia's life will take place at 2 pm on Friday, May 9th, 2008 in Popper Room, CEU.

I came to MESPOM from the UK, looking for the environmental masters with a difference. I wanted to integrate my scientific academic background with wider environmental and sustainability issues in the company of like-minded people from all over the world, and learn from their different cultures and experiences at the same time. I studied Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, completing my masters there in collaboration with the University of Manchester. My thesis was based on fieldwork I had undertaken with an NGO in Cambodia studying natural contamination of groundwater with arsenic, and biogeochemical analysis of Bengali aquifer sediments. I presented this work at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Cologne in August 2007, and hope to work again on water supply issues.

Anyong Haseyo ("Hi" in Korean). I am from South Korea. (한국 분들 이 글 보시고 궁금한 점 있으시면 dawool97 골뱅이 한메일로 이멜 주세요) I have a Bachelor's in Economics from Korea University in Seoul and a Master's in International Relations specialized in Peace and Global Governance from the Graduate Institute of Peace studies in Kyunghee University in South Korea. I have been interested in environmental issues since my childhood. During my university years, I organized Korea University Environment Week and united different environmental clubs. Before I joined MESPOM, I did my intership in Environmentally Sustainable Transport project at the United Nations Centre for Regional Development.