Martin Pratt Profile

What year did you graduate? 

1990

What subjects did you study prior to arriving in Durham? 

A level: English, French and Geography. 

Which degree programme did you study at Durham and why? 

Geography - I have loved the subject for as long as I can remember. I was even born with the initials MAP! 

What were the highlights of studying at Durham? 

Second year field trip to Malta. 

What was the topic of your third-year dissertation? 

'Electoral participation in Birmingham'. 

What are you doing now and how did your degree help prepare you? 

I'm a consultant on international boundary disputes - a career that is a direct result of studying political geography at Durham (and helping out as a student assistant at the first International Boundaries Research Unit conference in 1989). 

What other skills did studying at Durham help prepare you for the world of work and your future career? 

Cartography and GIS are important aspects of my work. 

With hindsight, what else would you have liked us to have taught you? 

Some basic geodesy would have come in useful - and it would have been easier to learn at 20 than at 40!