Elanor Alun

Lecturer in Environmental Conservation and Climate Change
Elanor Alun lying in a field near mushrooms

Background

Elanor has been in the environmental sector since 2010, with a particular focus on land management, bioremediation and community outreach. After graduating from her undergraduate degree she initially went and worked in industry as the Conservation Manager for Llys Nini Animal Centre in Swansea, where she oversaw a wetland restoration project among other initiatives. During this time she also joined many community projects such as Kilvey Community Woodland Volunteers, where she performed the role of environmental advisor. 

She returned to academia in 2018, where she now draws on her extensive industry knowledge to inform her teaching in how students may practically apply the theory they learn, thus increasing their employability. As a Welsh speaker of professional working proficiency, she is a member of the UWTSD Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Specialist Subjects

  • Land Reclamation
  • Bioremediation
  • Ecology
  • Climate Change

Professional and/or Research Experience

Elanor has worked on numerous conservation and sustainability projects, both in Wales and elsewhere. Chief among these are a project working on environmental skills for rural sustainability in Cyprus, which involved building a traditional Greek domi (an agricultural terrace designed to maximise the scarce Cypriot rainfall) and connecting traditional local businesses to help create a circular economy; and the Cradle for Nature Project in Varteg, Blaenavon, which seeks to remediate a stretch of opencast minespoil into an ecologically functional site once more.

Between 2023-2025, she worked on Neath Port Talbot Council's Working with Nature Project by leading on a series of nature walks and sessions for the public across various NPT sites. She has also begun providing advice and expertise to the Save the Tywi Project in Carmarthenshire, a citizen science project seeking to monitor the health of the River Tywi.

Qualifications

  • BSc Environmental Conservation, UWTSD
  • PG Cert Environmental Survey Techniques, Oxford University
  • PCET, UWTSD

Languages Spoken

Elanor is a first language English speaker, and also speaks Welsh to professional working proficiency.

Academic Teaching

Professional Publications

  • Flatley, A.; Drummond, M.; Cunningham, A.; Alun, E.; Jenkins, R., and Williams, H., (2024). "Optimising survey approaches for over-stabilised urban dunes in South Wales". Journal of Coastal Research, 113 (SI), 438–442. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2112/JCR-SI113-086.1
  • Haigh, M., Woodruffe, P., D’Aucourt, M., Alun, E., Wilding, G., Fitzpatrick, S., Filcheva, E., & Noustorova, M. (2020). "Successful Ecological Regeneration of Opencast Coal Mine Spoils through Forestation: From Cradle to Grove". Minerals, 10(5), 461. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/min10050461
  • Haigh, M., Desai, M., Cullis. M., D’Aucourt, M., Sansom, B., Wilding, G., Alun, E., Garate, S., Hatton, L., Kilmartin, M., Panhuis, W., & Jenkins, R. (2019). “Composted Municipal Green Waste Enhances Tree Success in Opencast Coal Land Reclamation in Wales”. Air, Soil and Water Research, 12. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622119877837