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![James Gilbert](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/James.jpg)
James Gilbert
Data & Evidence Officer
Working life behind the scenes…
My role as a ‘Data and Evidence Officer’ is to analyse, visualise and interpret environmental data – sometimes I even get out of the office to collect the data myself! I see myself as a ‘Catchment Scientist’ as I am concerned with all spheres of a river’s catchment; from rainfall, to soils and vegetation, urban areas, natural habitats, and species of all kinds. A useful tool to help me both analyse and visualise this spatially (and often temporally) distributed information and data is known as GIS (Geographical Information System). A Geographical Information System enables me to represent the position of any data on the Earth’s surface and to perform analytics. After interrogating the data I can use the computer system to generate a map – I guess you could call me a cartographer in this situation, although I don’t see myself as that artistic. A map demonstrating analysed environmental data is a simple and effective way of quickly interpreting and most importantly telling a story of a specific area. I started using GIS and generating maps at university and have since progressed from placing pretty lines and dots on a simple Ordnance Survey base-map, to generating landcover data from satellite imagery.
![](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DSC_5785.jpg)
Find out more about the work of Westcountry Rivers Trust...
In my opinion, the biggest challenge rivers face is the lack of engagement from the wider public. There is a disconnect between where people perceive their drinking water coming from and waste going to and furthermore a lack of understanding concerning the health of our riverine ecosystems. Equally remedying this is one of the biggest challenges a ‘Data and Evidence Officer’ can face – interpreting and presenting information in an appealing and engaging way in order to facilitate knowledge transfer.
![](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/28793820871_512c9c59f2_z.jpg)
“Perhaps one of the best things about my job is the fact that I do quite frequently get out to collect data myself, but am also sometimes tasked with interpreting that same data – it’s my job to tell the story of a beautiful piece of countryside I have just visited not only through showing people pictures, but by sharing detailed scientific information about it.”
Other Westcountry River Stories
![Rapid Response Catchments](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Okement_Autumn_Leaves_REUK-1-510x382.jpg)
![Walking the Exe: The Lower Reaches and Estuary](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CSI.png)
![Walking the Exe: The Middle Reaches](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Rounded-Hills.png)
![Dip into the Dart: Part 3](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dartington-510x382.png)
![River Restoration: Why We’re Adding Woody Material](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Littlewood_CWDrevet_20150317_003-510x382.jpg)
![Dip into the Dart: Part 2](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/spitchwick-2-may-33-edit-510x382.jpg)
![Dip into the Dart: Part 1](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Author-photo-510x382.png)
![Lost in Freshwater](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/19745409551_dcd2d06a5a_k-510x382.jpg)
![Data, reports, and a chainsaw](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Taw-7small-510x382.jpg)
![River Memories](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Tamar.jpg)
![Lifelong Fascination](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Photo-13.jpg)
![What rivers mean to me…](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Dart-at-Postbridge-1500.jpg)
![Working Life Behind the Scenes](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/02Slope_Holding_Ottery-510x382.jpg)
![Halcyon river days](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Camel-above-Dunmere-Weir-1500-510x382.jpg)
![Working life on the river](https://wrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/29578430100_f405fd6eb7_z1.jpg)