Alumni Matters

In this episode we catch up with alumnus Billy Heaney (BSc Zoology, 2015 and MRes Zoology, 2018) who works as a Zoologist, Digital Communicator Tour Guide, Broadcaster, Travel Writer and Communications Officer for WWT (The Wetlands Charity).

We discuss Billy’s Penryn Campus experience, his career highlights from the last decade working with nature, and how folks can create their own wildlife curiosity.

• Follow Billy on Instagram
• Connect with Billy on LinkedIn
• Keep up to date with future Alumni Matters content
• Watch on YouTube

What exactly is aerospace medicine?

This is just one of the questions that our chat with alumnus Dr Daniel Olaiya (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - BMBS, 2015) covers.

Daniel’s background is as an Anaesthetic and Intensive care doctor and he works as a flying doctor In aeromedical retrieval and transfer medicine and Extreme and remote Occupational medicine, as well as a presenter on CBBC’s BAFTA award winning television show, Operation Ouch.

We discuss his varied career in medicine, his Exeter experience, and how to pursue adventure.

• Follow Daniel on Instagram
• Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn
• Keep up to date with future Alumni Matters content
• Watch on YouTube

In this episode, to mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026, we speak to alumna Dr Yasmin Meeda (PhD in Biological Sciences, 2025) who works as a Research Fellow in Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology at Cranfield University, and science communicator.

We discuss how she turns complex science topics into bite-sized social media moments, what her job actually involves, and some of the ways we can encourage and assist women and girls to work in this sphere.

• Follow Yaz's journey on Instagram
• Connect with Yaz on LinkedIn
• Keep up to date with future Alumni Matters content
• Watch this episode on YouTube

In this episode of Alumni Matters we speak to alumnus Dan Shrigley (Economics, 2020) who works as a content creator, keynote speaker and community co-founder.

We discuss his life and his work to help the world become a healthier and more connected place through the 'Shoulder to Shoulder' community which brings men together to build friendships, learn, and grow. As well as how we can look after our mental health in the winter months and what it's like to change careers to align more with your 'purpose'.

• Follow Dan's journey on Instagram
• Connect with Dan on LinkedIn
• Keep up to date with future Alumni Matters content
• Watch this episode on YouTube

We're back with our second series of Alumni Matters interviews and to kick off we're chatting to alumnus Simon Clark (PhD in Mathematics, 2018) who is an award-winning science communicator, video maker, podcast creator and author.

We spoke about how his career in climate and science communications began, his Exeter days, and how to approach complex topics in simple formats. As well as options on tackling misinformation and climate scepticism, and with International Day of Climate Action taking place on Friday 24 October what we can do to play our part in making the world a greener place.

PLUS if you listen to the end you'll hear some Great British Bake Off 2025 winner predictions...

• Watch the video version of our chat.
• Take a look at Simon's YouTube channel.
• Discover more about Alumni Matters.

In the sixth video of our Alumni Matters series we speak to alumna Chiara Simmons Wood who graduated from Exeter with a degree in Sociology in 2022 and works as a Direct Marketing Executive at Age UK. We caught up about her favourite memories of Exeter, advice to the Class of 2024, and what life has been like for her since

Find out more about Chiara.

Discover all about Alumni Matters.

Watch the video version on YouTube.

Welcome to the fifth video of our Alumni Matters series. In which we’ll be chatting to several alumni and learning more about their careers, their thoughts on some of the key challenges our world is facing, and discovering how they are helping to shape it into a healthier, fairer, greener place.

In this video we speak to alumna Katherine Jachens who graduated from Exeter with a degree in Psychology in 2019. She recently worked as the Associate Staff Counsellor at the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Nottingham in Occupational Health Psychology. We’ll be chatting about her career, how we can look after ourselves when working in emotionally demanding careers, and how we can turn mental health awareness into action.

Find out more about Katherine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinejachens

Keep up to date with future Alumni Matters content: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/alumnisupporters/benefits/videointerviews/

Here are some links to find out more about the organisations and module Katherine mentions during the conversation:

- UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/uk/

- ICRC: https://www.icrc.org/en

- OCHA: https://www.unocha.org/ocha

- Psychology Applied to Health module at the University of Exeter: https://bit.ly/3U9bVxE

Welcome to the fourth video of our Alumni Matters series. In which we’ll be chatting to several alumni and learning more about their careers, their thoughts on some of the key challenges our world is facing, and discovering how they are helping to shape it into a healthier, fairer, greener place.

In this video we celebrated International Women's Day by speaking with alumna Caroline Addy. She studied LLB (Euro) graduating in 1990 with Honours and currently works as a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London. Her work particularly covers the control of information and we spoke a bit about how she is making the world a fairer place as well as the women who inspire her.

Welcome to the third video of our Alumni Matters series. In which we’ll be chatting to several alumni and learning more about their careers, their thoughts on some of the key challenges our world is facing, and discovering how they are helping to shape it into a healthier, fairer, greener place.

In this video we are joined by alumna Fiona Coughlan who studied English with French at Exeter, graduating in 2005, and now works as Joint Head of Climate Diplomacy at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Each year the impact of climate change is being felt more strongly all around the world and the need to consider our impact on the planet grows. So it was great to chat with Fiona about her work in climate and development policy, her involvement in the Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) programme, and her ideas on how alumni, supporters, and us all, can make 2024 count in terms of greener decisions.

Make sure to keep up to date with future Alumni Matters content online!

In our second Alumni Matters episode we chat to alumnus Daniel Crockett (Geography, 2002) who is Director of Ocean and Climate at the Blue Marine Foundation.

We spoke about how Dan's lifelong love of our oceans began, his work at Blue Marine, his hopes ahead of COP28 and the changes we can all be making to look after our blue planet.