Course studied
UCL Global Humanitarian Studies BScSector
Government
Career path
After graduating from UCL, Izzy joined Oxford City Council as a Trainee Planner, where she works on planning applications, urban development proposals and local planning policy. The systems thinking and interdisciplinary approach developed during her degree have been central to her ability to balance policy decisions that affect different groups.
She is working in the Policy team on the new Local Plan that will help shape the city of Oxford for the next 20 years, while also pursuing a Master’s degree in Spatial Planning at Oxford Brookes University.
Working in local government has allowed Izzy to apply academic insight directly to real-world decision-making, contributing to development that shapes the future of the city and helping address the UK housing challenge.
I was motivated by the need to tackle the housing crisis in the UK and make society more climate resilient.
Life at UCL
Izzy valued the breadth of perspectives within the Global Humanitarian Studies course, particularly modules that explored governance, inequality and environmental risk. Departmental events and collaborative projects helped her develop confidence in presenting ideas and working across disciplines, skills she now uses in planning consultations and policy discussions.
Izzy also served as Global Humanitarian Studies student ambassador and treasurer for UCL Student Action Against Homelessness (now Street Aid Society), joining the society’s weekly outreach supporting people experiencing street homelessness.
She gained a lot of varied experience through her time at UCL RDR, from volunteering with organisations focused on child abduction law and space health research, to completing a funded internship with the British Red Cross Youth Engagement team.
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