Environment

Give people the tools: Dr. Paivi Abernethy on climate change, health and empowerment

In December 2012, Dr. Paivi Abernethy had an epiphany. As part of her PhD research, she was conducting interviews with various specialists about the fallout from torrential rain in Mid-Wales during the past summer. As a result of the deluge, tailings from historic silver mines overflowed and ran downhill; the concentration of lead resulted in the death of cattle. There were also serious concerns among locals about toxicity in community gardens.