Marie moving on to new role

Our Care for Creation Officer, Marie Schlenker, has started a new role with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust this month. We would like to thank her for all she has done for MMUK and wish her all the best in her new role.

Here are Marie’s reflections on her time with MMUK:

My journey with MMUK started when I decided to accept the offer for a place on a PhD programme at the University of Southampton, studying climate change impacts in Solomon Islands, which was partly funded by MMUK. Conducting research in the South Pacific seemed like such an adventure that I was willing to move from my hometown in Germany to rainy Southampton.

And what an adventure it was! I first travelled to Solomon Islands in 2019 to conduct fieldwork in South Malaita and it changed me forever. Katie had tried to prepare me for how different island life would be – but it was not until I travelled to Fanalei Island by outboard motor and lived there for a month that I actually began to understand what living on a small island meant and what impact climate change might have on the community there. Storm events had already washed away half of the original village, saltwater intrusion had made gardening impossible, and people were scared for their future.

After my return from Solomon Islands, I struggled with Western lifestyles and amenities for a while. I saw excess everywhere. That’s when I realised that I had to speak out about climate change, and by extension capitalism. I joined several groups dedicated to education and outreach on environmental issues at the university and went to my first climate protest.

When COVID hit and severely impacted my research, I was very grateful about the opportunity to volunteer with MMUK. I very much enjoyed the charity’s climate advocacy and awareness raising work. It felt like there was a real opportunity to have an impact and help people. Hence, I was overjoyed when I was offered a part-time role as Care for Creation Officer about a year later.

Throughout my 2.5 years in my role as Care for Creation Officer with the charity, I had the chance to be involved in so many exciting projects. It has been wonderful to see the number of environment observatories increase to twelve, engage communities in Melanesia with climate change adaptation and experience how passionate MMUK’s supporters and students in the UK are about tackling climate change. It has also been really rewarding to work with Melanesians and learn from their easy-going attitude to life. And then, last but not least, I really enjoyed working alongside a great team of trustees and two truly amazing women, Katie Drew and Freda Fataka! Thank you all for the great memories!

My fixed contract is now coming to an end and it is time to move on professionally. However, I will still be involved in some volunteering with the charity, particularly around the development of learning resources. I look forward to seeing you at the charity’s AGM in September.