Soseala Tinilau, PhD Student

A Time for Action

Climate change has become one of the most significant challenges of the 21st Century. For some nations and their inhabitants, it presents the greatest and most immediate existential threat.

That is the case for the island archipelago of Tuvalu. Sitting barely three metres above sea level, Tuvalu, which is situated in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia and has a population of around 11,000 people, is faced with the prospect of being consumed by the sea due to the negative impacts of climate change.

This is an issue that PhD student Soseala Tinilau is trying to address in his research, which focuses on how the island can improve its resilience through better environmental education in schools and improved training and policy development across key government organisations and institutions.

Towards a Sustainable Future

Soseala has been assessing the formal and informal methodologies that are being used to share information about environmental sustainability and has discovered failures in the system.

“Currently, there isn't a dedicated subject covering sustainability or the environment in the school curriculum,” says Soseala, who has a professional background in environmental management and education. “Rather than just being part of a science or social science subject, it would be beneficial if this was covered as an item on its own, especially in light of the current issues facing the island. Policies at local government level have also failed to address the existential threat of climate change."

Through focus groups, surveys, and interviews with Tuvalu residents, Soseala has also been exploring how information is shared through more informal networks, via members of local communities and civil societies. “I’ve been looking at how residents are passing knowledge on from one generation to the next, teaching people how to look after the environment and how effective this has been,” says Soseala. “This has been a fascinating element of my research. But alongside these informal networks, we do also need to develop better national and regional frameworks to improve environmental stewardship education to help people on the island.”

A Supportive Environment

Soseala joined the University through the Commonwealth Scholarship scheme, which supports outstanding doctoral candidates from countries across the Commonwealth.

While at Lincoln, he has been working with academics in the Lincoln Centre for Ecological Justice and has been sharing his research at conferences and other events.

“There is a really good network of PhD students here at Lincoln who support each other during their studies,” says Soseala. “We socialise regularly and share experiences and ideas.

“I’ve also received great support from my supervisors and other University staff, such as the experts in the library who helped me to navigate the software that I needed for the quantitative research elements of my PhD. All of this help has proved invaluable for my studies.”