In 2012, having recently retired from a career that lasted over thirty years, Harry McGuigan decided to attend his local college to study a diploma in Gardening, because, in his own words, ‘what else was I going to do?’

A little over a decade later, having obtained a variety of degrees and qualifications in Horticulture, Environmental Management, and Leadership in Sustainability, he is now completing his PhD Thesis at Queen’s University Belfast, and is preparing to start a new career with a job in the NI Civil Service.

Harry says, ‘after I retired, I was doing bits of studying here and there. Just casual things such as advanced Microsoft Word programmes. When I ran out of those, I decided I’d find a course at South Eastern Regional College that I could do one evening a week, really just for something to do. I signed up for the Level 2 City and Gills Diploma in Gardening, even though looking back I’m not sure I was even particularly drawn to it – it was just the most suitable option in front of me.’

Despite his originally laid back approach to the subject, It didn’t take long for a passion to appear within Harry, so when he overheard a tutor recommend that another student progress on to study a Foundation Degree in Horticulture at the College of Agriculture Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) Greenmount Campus, he decided that he would do the same, opting to avail of the opportunity to study the course part-time free of charge.

It was at Greenmount that Harry identified new areas he was interested in, and he looks back on his time there as something of an environmental awakening. He says, ‘I really enjoyed studying at Greenmount at first, but then my environmental awareness began to awaken. Greenmount were focused on the artistic side of gardening, rather than the environmental impact and capabilities of horticulture I was interested in. So, once I had completed enough modules to leave there with a certificate of higher education, I decided to move on. With that certificate, I was able to apply to Queen’s to study Land Use and Environmental Management.’

While doing the undergraduate degree at Queen’s, tutors suggested Harry do a Masters in Leadership in Sustainable Development, and eventually there was even the suggestion of a PhD. What sounds on paper to be a remarkably quick and impressive journey from an evening Gardening course to a PhD, feels to Harry to be simply a series of natural progressions. He reflects on it casually and humbly, seeing things as one-step-at-a-time, and even admits that when it came to starting the PhD itself, he took some convincing.

‘Throughout my time at Queen’s, I had a real focus on biochar. Given an opportunity, I’d focus on it in any assignment, to the point where I was researching it extensively enough to be something of an expert.

‘My passion in this area led me to a big interest in mitigating global warming through Carbon sequestration and I felt there was a real knowledge gap in that area which someone needed to address. Frankly, I didn’t want to do the PhD – I just wanted someone to do it. I told one of my tutors, there’s a real opportunity here for someone, but he said: “it won’t be done unless you do it.” So, I decided I would, and I was able to use the rest of my Masters as a chance to network with the stakeholders I’d need during the PhD.’

Harry’s continued research in this field has now opened new career opportunities for him. When it came to applying for his new job with Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, he availed of support from Dianne Masson, Postgraduate Careers and Employability Consultant at The Thomas J Moran Graduate School.

‘I’d attended several events at The Graduate School, which offers such a wide variety of programmes which any student would find relevant to their needs and interests. Before applying for the job, I sent Diane my application form along with examples I had prepared for a competency-based interview. She took the time to study both, then met with me and gave me great advice on how to improve my examples to better tailor them to the competencies being tested. I left my meeting with Diane more confident about attending the interview.’

The advice and support Dianne was able to offer helped Harry secure the job, which he says is perhaps the most satisfying step in his journey so far.

Remaining typically humble about the work he’s carried out, he says, ‘I’ve been at Queen’s for ten years. I don’t particularly get excited about the idea of having a PhD or the idea of being a Doctor, but I do take great satisfaction in the fact that the research I thought was necessary has been done.’

This satisfaction is heightened by the prospect of taking his research into his new career. Harry says, ‘getting this job feels like validation of everything I’ve been doing. It’s always been my view that doing the research is one thing, but being able to then move forward and do something with it is what’s really exciting, and fortunately that’s something I’ll now be able to do.’