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A researcher has told the inspirational story of how he overcame major challenges - including the death of his father and having emergency surgery for a fractured skull - so that he could walk across the stage and receive his PhD from Â鶹´«Ã½ Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½).

Jonathan and his family at his graduation with Prof Haris (right)

Jonathan Jones’s story is one of him triumphing over not just one but several periods of adversity while studying for his PhD in Environmental Science.

After collecting his doctorate during Graduations Week at Curve theatre this week, the Environment Team Leader for Natural Resources Wales paid tribute to his parents, wife and children and his Â鶹´«Ã½ supervisor Prof Parvez Haris for pushing him to a new high point in his academic career.

Newly titled Dr Jonathan, 46, from Swansea, said: “It was an amazing juggling act and I almost reached the point of ‘enough is enough’ and ‘I can’t put myself through it any more’.

“But with the encouragement from my mother, wife Lisa, children Lois and Gabriel, my wider family and Parvez, I got through.”

Not long after Jonathan started his PhD, his father Vivian was diagnosed with the muscle-wasting Motor Neurone Disease.

As his mother Elaine was not in the best health, Jonathan became his father’s primary carer, looking after him every day.

“It was very demanding and emotionally challenging with my Dad,” Jonathan said. “I also had two young kids and a full-time job as an Environment Team leader with Natural Resources Wales [the Welsh equivalent of the Environment Agency in England]. Natural Resources Wales sponsored my studies, for which I am very grateful. 

“I was working full-time and on call every few weekends 24\7 and there were several major incidents I had to deal with. We tackle any sorts of pollution incidents to land, air and water in addition to dealing with flooding and drought.

“My father went down hill pretty quickly and passed away. In the same period, I lost two uncles and an aunt from what is a very close-knit family.

“I suppose given the length of time studying for a PhD these are things that happen through your life but it was a lot to deal with in quick succession.

“I also fractured my skull and had to have emergency surgery after severing two arteries in my head. I was in hospital for several days and it then took several months to recover

Jonathan crosses the stage at Curve to receive his PhD

“My mother’s ill health also means that she is now on dialysis and, with my father gone, she needs my daily care.

“At several points during my studies I really got to the stage of asking ‘how much more of this can I cope with?’.

“A lack of sleep, a lack of time, demand after demand and deadline after deadline in studies and at work, while bringing up two small children with my wife - that was really tough.

“But my father was the inspiration and encouragement to pursue this level of qualification and I wanted to finish the job, so to speak, in his honour.

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“This was the big driving force along with reminding myself of the reason why I started to study a PhD, which was to make an impact scientifically and to help the environment.”

Jonathan’s PhD research with Prof Haris involved looking at using the common water hyacinths to remove pollutants from river water. There is still more to do, however, and Jonathan hopes he can continue working with Parvez to look at how the research can be used in practice.

“I would like to continue research in this field with Parvez if at all possible. I would also like to move into lecturing in the future. Passing on my knowledge and experience to younger people would be fantastic. I would love to encourage more people to work for the environment.

“All my life I have had a passion for all of the natural world and all things environmental. My father was the same and my kids are the same.”

Parvez Haris, Professor of Biomedical Science and Head of Research for Â鶹´«Ã½’s School of Allied Health Sciences, said Jonathan was an incredible student.

“It was a very nice day for Jonathan after years of struggles with occasions where he was so overwhelmed with family illness and work pressures that he thought of giving up.

Dr Jonathan Jones and Prof Parvez Haris outside the ceremony at Curve

“But, ultimately, he never did and I was happy to be there to encourage and motivate him.  I am so happy for Jonathan. He is a very nice and incredibly friendly guy who has “green fingers” for research and it was a great pleasure for me being his PhD supervisor.

“He is also a family man, fully dedicated to taking care of his mother, wife and children.

“I truly believe he has a great future ahead of him and I would not be surprised if he becomes a professor one day. I wish him success in his life and his scientific career.

“He will be remembered in history as the first scientist in the world to carry out a study to remove toxic metals from a free-flowing river using the water hyacinth plant. This work has been highly praised and was published in scientific reports.

And so how was the ceremony for Jonathan?

“It was great for my wife and children and my mum to be introduced to Parvez… and I was able to explain to my nine-year-old boy that this was the naughty man who kept me up studying at night!’, Jonathan joked.

“But I want to thank Parvez and Â鶹´«Ã½. Parvez has been a superb support. I have nominated him many times for supervisor awards. He has become a real friend and someone I respect enormously.”