Inside BSc Geography: Gabrielle Pengyu Shao

Coming to UCL to study BSc Geography has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Having just left a French degree at Peking University in China, I started the BA Geography course at UCL in 2023 before transferring to the BSc programme, where I gradually discovered my passion for physical geography, particularly freshwater ecology and conservation.

During my first year, I was fortunate to join several citizen science groups (some via UCL Volunteering) focused on restoring and monitoring green spaces and rivers. Based on these experiences, I was selected as a Laidlaw Scholar and conducted a review on citizen science in river monitoring, supervised by Dr Izzy Bishop. This research was published in Frontiers in Environmental Science and became my first academic publication. 

I also became involved in wider collaborative research and public-facing work and was awarded Honourable Mentions by the UCL Open Science and Scholarship Awards. None of this would have been possible without the training, opportunities, and support from the Geography Department.

I am now working on my dissertation focusing on a restored wetland in Beijing, China, supervised by Professor Helen Bennion. I received extensive support from my supervisor in planning my fieldwork and secured funding through a Royal Geographical Society research grant. It has been a rewarding experience to conduct an entire piece of research independently—from developing ideas, to fieldwork and data collection, to writing it up.

I have also gained many other meaningful experiences, including becoming a transition mentor, student ambassador and serving in the Geographical Society.

With only months until graduation, I already miss my time here—exploring geography as both practical and meaningful, developing real skills while engaging with some of the world’s most pressing challenges.