|
|
Welcome
to the first alumni newsletter of 2023! We hope you have had a great
start to the year. It has been a good one for us so far at UHI and
there's already loads of good news stories to share with you
below.
As always, we
really value our alumni and hope that you will continue to connect with
us and let us know how you are getting on.
Would you like to
share your story? Please update-your-details to let us know what you've been up to since leaving UHI
and inspire our current and future students! If you have any questions,
suggestions or ideas,
please
just get in touch.
With
best wishes from the advancement and alumni engagement team.
Alison,
Denise, Ellen, Sìne & Sophie
|
|
|
Interim
principal and vice-chancellor appointed for UHI
UHI has
appointed Vicki Nairn as Interim Principal and Vice-Chancellor. She
is an experienced executive leader who has worked extensively across
the private and public sectors in the north of Scotland for nearly 20
years.
Alastair
MacColl, Chair of the UHI Court, said: “Vicki Nairn brings
significant experience to this important interim role. She
understands our partnership, and the communities we serve, very well,
having lived and worked in the Highlands and Islands for nearly 20
years.
Read
more
|
Education
Minister welcomes new UHI clinical simulation facility
UHI has opened a new clinical
simulation suite in Inverness. Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Higher
Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training,
attended the launch event at the Centre for Health Science.
The simulation suite is made up of
two rooms designed to replicate hospital wards, each containing
hospital beds, medical observation systems and equipment. The
facility offers live video streaming services to help students at
other UHI campuses join in on the action and it can also be rented to
public, private and third sector organisations.
|
UHI
awarded £450k to enhance lab equipment
We're delighted to have been awarded
£450k by the internationally recognised major philanthropic
foundation, The Wolfson Foundation. The
funding will allow UHI to enhance its range of mass spectrometry
equipment, supporting our research in areas such as the
pharmaceutical contamination of water, peatland resilience and
muscle-wasting diseases.
Alison Wilson, Director of
Advancement and Alumni Engagement at UHI, added: “We are extremely
grateful that the Wolfson Foundation has chosen to support UHI in
such a significant way. This is the first ever award Wolfson has made
to UHI. It signals their confidence in what we are doing and our
vision for the future."
|
ScotWind
developers donate £900K to expand UHI schools STEM engagement
programme
In January, the First
Minister announced that a UHI initiative which promotes careers in
science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) has received a
£900k funding boost from the offshore wind industry.
Primary school
children across the north of Scotland will enjoy enhanced lessons,
enabling us to provide additional materials and training to teachers.
Our outreach programme, currently in its sixth year, is now able to
extend reach to schools in Argyll and Bute, Moray, Orkney,
Perthshire, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Read more
|
Islands
Growth deal will release total investment of £393 million
An
agreement to invest £100 million in the future economic prosperity of
Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides has been signed by UK and
Scottish Government Ministers and the Council Leaders of the three
island groups.
Up to 1,300
jobs and £393 million of investment is anticipated to result from the
signing of the transformative Islands Growth Deal between UK
Government, Scottish Government, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Shetland
Islands Council, and Orkney Islands Council.
Over a
ten-year period, the Islands Growth Deal will invest in 16 projects
and programmes that capitalise on the Islands’ unique assets. These
are built around three strategic themes of low carbon, supporting
growth and future industries, and thriving sustainable communities.
Read more
|
Plans
have been approved to allow Scottish peatbog to apply for Unesco
World Heritage status.
Our Environmental Research Institute has been
part of developing the bid for a 494,210-acre area of peatbog, lochs
and bog pools stretching across Caithness and Sutherland to be added
to UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
Often referred to as the Flow
Country, if granted world heritage status it will join the six other
Scottish sites; the Antonine Wall, Heart of Neolithic Orkney, New
Lanark, the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, St Kilda and the Forth
Bridge. The bid is expected to be submitted early 2023, with a
response in 2024.
|
To mark World
Gaelic Week, Dr Mandy Haggith, a lecturer in creative writing and
literature at UHI Inverness, and UHI alumnae, shares insights into
the Gaelic tree alphabet and a project which brings together forestry
and literature students.
|
As part of
Green Week earlier this month, MA health and wellbeing student Sandra
Macrae has blogged 10 tips to support green health, highlighting the
positive impact that nature can have on our health and wellbeing,
including taking up ‘plogging’ and making your own hedgehog
café!
|
With the Up Helly Aa season in full
swing, over on our UHI blog, UHI Shetland's
Selina May Miller discusses the Up Helly Aa tradition and what it
means to Shetland's communities.
|
|
|
Stephanie McKenna
BSc Hons Psychology, UHI Inverness, 2022
A huge
congratulations to Stephanie McKenna, who has won the Scottish Youth Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture at this year's Fort William
Mountain Festival sponsored by UHI West Highland!
Graduating in 2022, Stephanie studied psychology at UHI
Inverness and was recognised for her volunteering work and
founding the women's mountain bike group 'Fort William Foxes'. An
inspirational campaigner who works tirelessly to empower the Fort
William community to engage with nature, the environment and outdoor
activities.
Her final-year dissertation on the psychological impact of wild
swimming also won The Jonathan Sime Award from the University of
Surrey!
You can watch a great
video of Stephanie passionately talking her local community here!
|
Meet our newest
alumni ambassador!
Francesca Molinari
BSc Hons, Marine Science with Arctic Studies,
2020, SAMS
"After graduating from SAMS I enrolled on
a Master in ecotoxicology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden
which I completed last year. I am currently a first year PhD student
at the University of Exeter.
I had an incredible time as a SAMS student. I
took every opportunity to participate in the student life and really
loved what I was studying and the hands-on and informal way in which
marine science was thought. The four years I spent at SAMS and the
people I met during this time really shaped me as a scientist and set
me on the right path to succeed in my career.
I would like to give back to this great
community of scientists and peers by helping motivate new students to
undertake a career in marine science and encourage them to find
opportunities to further their career and fuel their interests."
|
We have spaces for alumni ambassadors who studied at
UHI Argyll, UHI Moray, UHI Shetland, UHI West Highland, HTC or Sabhal
Mòr Ostaig.
Our alumni are our
best ambassadors. We are building a community of alumni ambassadors
to be a key resource for prospective students to draw upon when
making decisions about applying. They can cover expectations of
studying at UHI, what to expect, work-life balance, etc. and relay
their own experiences of studying here.
Alumni
ambassadors can also play an important role in preparing current
students for the world of work whilst expanding the network of
connected graduates around the world.
Interested? Read more!
|
The Moray
School of Art held their first alumni workshop earlier this month.
There was lots of productive discussion around how to establish and
keep meaningful links.
If you're
thinking of setting up your own alumni group, perhaps locally to your
own region or your own course, then let us know and we can see how we
can help!
|
Laura Harvey
BSc (Hons) Psychology, 2015, UHI Inverness
“After graduation I continued as a support
worker with Scottish Autism, supporting vulnerable adults to live
life to the full. In 2017 I was promoted to management and over the
next four years, managed many different services in the West of
Scotland, including opening a brand-new housing support service in
2020/21. This was a huge achievement and I learned so much.
In 2021 I took a leap of faith and changed
careers to take up an assistant managers position with a new
residential childcare provider. Working with children was always a
dream of mine and this felt like the perfect opportunity to make a
difference to children living with trauma and developmental issues,
which was something that interested me throughout my degree.
I juggled studies with being a full-time mum
(my youngest was born at the end of 3rd year!) and I continue to
juggle being a mum and working full time, but I wouldn’t change it
for the world. I’ll never forget the support UHI provided during my
degree, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it - anything is
possible if you work hard and have the right people cheering you
on!"
|
Shirley Catto
HNC Healthcare Practice, 2008, UHI Moray
Congratulations
to Shirley who has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Nurse Award!
"UHI Moray shaped the nurse I am today. My advice to
anyone thinking of a career change is look at the courses available
and take that leap. Who knows where it may lead" - Shirley
Now a Neurology Nurse Specialist at Seafield Hospital in Buckie,
Shirley was among 20 other community nurses selected to complete the
nine-month programme, introduced for nurses who are considered
experts in their field. Daughter Libby has followed in her mum’s
footsteps too, completing the HNC Healthcare Practice with us and is
now working as a Nurse at Dr Gray's Hospital.
Read the full blog
|
Interested in teaching?
Find
out how to study part-time to become a primary or secondary school
teacher from anywhere in Scotland
Supported by
the Scottish Government, UHI's new two-year PGDE Primary and
Secondary (English medium)* programmes are unique in Scotland and
aimed at graduates wishing to follow a part-time route to become a
teacher.
Study begins
with Monday evening online seminars and one day per week in school,
and build up to five-day placements in local schools, between April
and June of year two.
To find out
more, please reserve your place at our Teams webinar on Thursday 9 March at 7.00pm.
The event will
be hosted by Professor Morag Redford and Judith Munro, programme
leader for PGDE programmes and include:
- An introduction to
UHI's teacher education programmes
- What's new about the
two-year PGDE Primary and Secondary (English medium) part-time
programmes
- Frequently asked
questions
- Audience questions
*Please note
that these courses are subject to accreditation by the General
Teaching Council for Scotland.
To find out
more visit:
Primary (English Medium) (Part-time)
PDGE
Secondary (English Medium)
(Part-time) PDGE
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your
privacy is important to us
The university is
committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with
the laws concerning data protection and personal information.
This privacy notice explains
how your personal information is processed and used by the university.
You can unsubscribe
at any time. By clicking on the link below, you will unsubscribe from
ALL emails from UHI. If you would rather let us know your
communication preferences, please email us at alumni@uhi.ac.uk
|
|
Tha
ur prìobhaideachd cudromach dhuinn
Tha an t-oilthigh
dealasach a bhith a’ dìon an fhiosrachaidh phearsanta agaibh a rèir nan
laghan a thaobh dìon dàta agus fiosrachadh pearsanta.
Tha am brath prìobhaideachd
seo a’ mìneachadh mar a
thèid am fiosrachadh pearsanta agaibh a làimhseachadh is uisneachadh
leis an oilthigh.
Faodaidh tu
dì-chlàradh aig àm sam bith. Le bhith a’ briogadh air a’ cheangal gu
h-ìosal, fàgaidh tu di-chlàradh bho GACH post-d bho UHI. Nam b’ fheàrr
leat na dòighean conaltraidh agad innse dhuinn, cuir thu post-d
thugainn aig alumni@uhi.ac.uk.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ness Walk, Inverness, IV3 5SQ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
