Profile
Charlotte Lemanski
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About Me:
I live in a village on the outskirts of Cambridge, where I work as a Geography Professor at the University. I am a keen distance runner and cyclist. I love being outdoors, and especially in the mountains (sadly, there are none near Cambridge!) and I have entered some challenging trail races and Alpine triathlons for 2023.
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I got a job working with street youths in South Africa straight after I left University, at a time when apartheid had only recently ended. It was my first time overseas (and my first time on an aeroplane), and it was an intense experience. I lived there for 2 years, and got to experience first-hand the ongoing legacies of apartheid – a political system of racial segregation. It was during this time that I realised I was a Geographer in my heart, and it was geography helped me understand the intertwined nature of legal, political, economic, spatial, social, cultural dynamics of urban life in highly segregated Cape Town.
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My pronouns are:
she/her
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My Work:
My time living in South Africa in my early 20s was transformative as the majority of my research since then (more than two decades later) is about urban change in South Africa, especially access to infrastructure (water, energy, sanitation, housing) and citizenship (right to influence decision-masking) for low-income residents.
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My Typical Day:
I cycle to work in Cambridge everyday, often this means getting very cold or wet! Once at the University I teach, have meetings and get on with research. Every day is very different, but I make time to get outside as much as I can.
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I often wake up very early to take my son to swimming training before school – sometimes I also get to swim when there is a parent lane, which I love. Once the kids are off to school, I cycle to work at the Department of Geography in Cambridge. My day is always different – from giving lectures to undergraduate students, to chairing University committee meetings, zoom meetings with colleagues and students in South Africa, applying to funding for research, writing up research findings, presenting finding to government officials in South Africa online. I leave by 5pm and cycle back as fast as I can, home just in time to take one of my children to their sports club. Luckily this means I can do a nice run while they train, and I love the chance to be outside pounding the pavements and reflecting on my day. Then it’s home again for family dinner and reading bedtime stories to the kids before I collapse into bed myself!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would want to demystify human geography. Whenever I tell people I’m a geographer, they think I know all about rivers, lakes or weather – I know nothing about any of those things! I love exploring how humans interact with the world, and would like to promote public engagement to demystify human geography. This could be a roadshow that includes visual and audio material covering the wide range of human geography research being undertaken, and this roadshow could move around different secondary schools and public libraries.
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Education:
I went to a state secondary school in Romford, Essex. I didn’t know anyone who worked in the University sector so this never occured to me as a career. I worked very hard at school and was eager to leave Romford.
After school I went to Durham University (mostly because it was a long way away from Romford), which I loved, but it was a shock to encounter students who had been to private school and experienced so much privilege in their life. I had never thought of myself as under-privileged but some students thought my accent and background was inferior.
I later did a masters degree at the London School of Economics, and a PhD at the University of Oxford.
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Qualifications:
10 GCSEs (shock, I didn’t take Geography)
3 A levels (English, History, Politics)
BA degree in Politics
Masters degree in Development Studies
PhD in Geography (finally, I realised Geography is my home)
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Work History:
When I was at school I had various hustles: a paper-round (terrible pay but good access to sweets), ringing church bells and singing in the church choir for weddings (surprisingly well paid), and babysitting (lots of biscuits).
When I was at University I worked at an investment bank in the holidays – which made me realise I was hopeless with numbers and didn’t enjoy working to create money
After University I got a job with a UK charity that sent me to work with street youths in South Africa for two years. I found this very challenging. I was fascinated by the geography of post-apartheid South Africa, but found working in the charity sector very draining.
I then did further study (researching post-apartheid South Africa) and realised I wanted to work in the University sector as an academic doing research that could bring about change.
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Current Job:
Professor of Urban Geography
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Employer:
University of Cambridge
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Outdoor-loving runner
What did you want to be after you left school?
Journalist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Rarely
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Leading hiking and running Alpine holidays
Who is your favourite singer or band?
The Police
What's your favourite food?
Butternut squash soup
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. Spend more time outdoors. 2. Run faster. 3. Be more patient
Tell us a joke.
It's pointless to use fractions instead of decimals
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