About me

Hi! I’m Timber (pronouns she/they), and I’m your Postgraduate Education Officer.

My academic background is at the Open University, where my undergraduate degree focused on Electronic Engineering, and additionally touched on energy policy and technology. My postgraduate experience is here at the University of Bristol, studying for a Master of Science in Nuclear Science and Engineering.

I currently volunteer in the justice sector (as a Justice of the Peace) and in the past have worked on youth engagement at the Radio Society of Great Britain. Before becoming a Full Time Officer, I was on the Trans Students’ Network committee, the LGBTQ+ society committee, and was elected a delegate to the National Union of Students National Conference.

In my role, I ensure the voice of postgraduates (both PGR and PGT) is heard at all levels of the University, and make sure the SU’s work has postgraduates in mind. I am best able to faithfully represent postgrads when I get to hear from them, so please get in touch with any concerns, queries, or comments, or to simply hear what I’ve been up to!

My Priorities

Wellbeing and community

Often, being a postgrad can feel like you’re stuck in the grey area between student and staff. It can be hard to find opportunities to meet new people and socialise, and the wellbeing of PGs should be a priority, not an afterthought. So, I’ll be:

• Ensuring the SU engages with PG students, to help realise our vision of being a Union for all students.
• Pushing the University to better support students with health and wellbeing needs that require additional support​.

Enhancing support

All of us at the SU know that the rising cost of living will be on minds of many postgraduate students. In addition to our collective priority on cost of living, I know that postgrads feel the effects in unique ways – be it a woefully low PGT loan from Student Finance England, or a stipend that simply does not go far enough in a city as expensive as Bristol. Therefore, I’ll be:

• Reviewing the results of the PGR Cost of Living Survey from last academic year, and using the report to help push for both immediate mitigations and long-term solutions.
• Lobbying for improvements to PG funding.

Funding and cost of living

No student is an island, and it is important that the services and structures the SU and the University provide are felt by the postgraduate community to be supportive and useful. This year, I’ll be working on:

• Increasing access to support services, with focus on neurodivergent and marginalised students​
• Ensuring academic representation works for PG students​

What I've Been Working On

Discussing methods to ensure postgraduates have meaningful representation, both within the SU and at the University.

Organising meetings with university stakeholders to raise issues discussed by trans PGRs in our recent forum.

I relayed concerns raised with me about PGR Tier 4 monitoring with senior university staff, and have planned further discussions to share student concerns.