Meet & Greet: Iris Möller

‘A view from above the clouds’

My academic career in Geography – Physical Geography to be more precise; the role of coastal wetlands as natural sea defences to be even more precise – really started with the decision to pursue my PhD. Prior to that, any decisions on what to do next reflects the luxury of being able to relatively easily pursue what interested me at the time (with others giving me financial assistance), alongside opportunities arising that broadly matched those interests. From my PhD onwards, however, as I moved into salaried positions, it took many years for me to understand what it means to ‘pursue an academic career’. Most of all, looking back, I can see how ill-defined a notion I had about what might be needed for a particular career outcome.

Until very recently, I was very much under the impression that I had missed the opportunity to ever be listened to or make my views on my discipline, my field of research, my experience of teaching and administration in academia count. I still have not quite understood how I have been given the opportunity to move on from that rather disillusioned ‘place’, but in this session, I hope to offer some insight into what has worked for me to keep me going and what might have led to me, finally, feeling that I ended up in the right place at the right time… I also hope to hear from the audience about their experiences – as I am well aware that times continuously change and the present generation of young early career geoscientists face different challenges to those I faced…

Prof Iris Möller holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Cambridge. After a short spell of working at HR Wallingford Ltd, she joined the University of Cambridge’s Coastal Research Unit as a Research Associate and Deputy Director. A Full-Time College Lectureship in Physical Geography at Fitzwilliam College followed, and from 2014, she held a University Lectureship in Physical Geography (Coastal Processes) at the Department of Geography at Cambridge. In October 2019, she started as Professor of Geography at Trinity College Dublin and is now, since January 2020, Head of Department of Geography there.