Dr Rachel Jacobs was part of the first CDT cohort and her PhD investigated the distinct contributions of artists engaging the public with climate data by studying two artist led projects that combined contemporary art, computer science and climate science. This research took place across a series of artists residencies and public exhibitions in forests in the UK and Brazil. The work led to the development of an online platform designed for the capture, mediation and interpretation of environmental, climate and sustainability data for use by artists and for public engagement.
In 2014, as a result of her PhD research, Rachel received a University of Nottingham EPSRC Doctoral Prize, which funded a part-time fellowship allowing her to investigate the impact of her research in partnership with the Mixed Reality Lab and the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute at the University of Nottingham. She also received funding from the Arts Council of England to develop the interactive artwork prototype The Prediction Machine, in parallel to this research. The Prediction Machine toured the UK as part of the EPSRC-funded Performing Data: Enabling creative uses of streamed data project.
