The Thurso storytellers

Louise Smith trained as a civil engineer and now lives and works in Thurso. With help from a friend, Alison Middlemas, she filmed a story (watch it online here) about her hopes for clean energy. She's driven by pride in the quality of life she has in Caithness:

Louise made a video highlighting the economic benefits of clean energy. Watch her story, Going green

"I am originally from Thurso but left at the age of 17 to go to London to train as a civil engineer. With young children of my own, I was keen to give them the quality of life that I had as a child, so three years ago I moved back and now live round the corner from my mum and dad. The children have settled in well and enjoy their new-found freedom. Hovering in the background is the threat of job security for them in the future if they want to stay locally. So since my return I have carried out voluntary work for a community group that allows me to promote the use of renewable energy and the benefits that it could bring to the Highlands.

"There is huge potential for capitalising on the marine energy generated by tides and waves in the Pentland Firth. Many local firms can utilise their existing skills in this field and my community group is also pursuing a renewable wind-to-hydrogen project. To support this aim we have developed a county-wide energy advice service for Caithness, which recently received a big funding boost. So renewables have gone from being my 'hobby' to being my job, while still allowing me to use my engineering skills."

Also from Thurso

Dorcas Sinclair has already made several films of her own and posted them to her Youtube account. She learnt a few new tricks at the Highland Lives workshops, and tried them out making a film about a friend who's upholding a Caithness landscape tradition. Watch Waltzing the stones.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of linked external sites.

Jim Foubister has seen agriculture change radically in his lifetime. He made an audio slideshow to demonstrate that farmers are good custodians of the Caithness environment. Watch Back to basics.

Annette Sinclair knows a thing or two about computers, and – thanks to her efforts – so do a lot of people in her hometown of Wick. Watch Silver surfers.

Michael O'Donnell took method acting to the extreme when he made a film about lobster fishing. Those rocks really are treacherous – he can prove it. Watch To catch a lobster.

Andrew Hamilton is optimistic about high-tech jobs in Caithness. He's working towards the day when there's no such thing as a 'dead' battery. Watch Full circle in Caithness.

Fiona Macintosh gets a lot of satisfaction out of seeing kids fulfil their potential, both through her work in a Thurso college and her community involvement. Watch Just this once.

Other Highland Lives locations

Click around the map (upper right) or read about the Highland Lifers who took part in: Alness | Brora | Fort William | Grantown | Inverness | Thurso