The third and final of our student guides to choosing courses and place to learn
To go alongside our first podcast episode; Routes into Conservation, Mollie and Brian invited students enrolled on environmental courses to give their perspectives on the choices that they had made with their educational routes, and how their experiences could help guide others. Please check out the other blogs posts for more insights.
Name: Millie Pitts
Name of Course: BSc Zoology
University Name: University of Exeter
Year of Study: Third Year
What factors made you decide on this course and college/university? There are many factors which contributed to me choosing this course and university. I always knew that I wanted to be a zoologist, however, when choosing a course for university I was torn between zoology courses and wildlife conservation courses but in the end, I chose zoology because it focused on what I wanted to learn and achieve. I originally was going to Harper Adams University due to it being closer to home, but it is not the university I wanted to go to. However, I changed my option and ended up convincing my parents to let me go to Exeter because that is where my heart was. Exeter is in an amazing location, has amazing facilities and great academics while providing great modules, making it my dream university.
Are your course/subjects helping you towards your career in the way you expected? The course I’m doing is, I believe, helping me to get where I want to be. I always believed that it
would help me get where I want to be, it is providing me with a deeper and greater understanding of
topics I’m interested in, and potentially the careers that I want to do after graduating university.
However, I did not expect to be doing my course back at home and 100% online mid-way through
my second year and throughout my whole third year, however, this has allowed me to develop a
whole range of new skills which I would never have got having face-to-face teaching.
Have you done anything else during your time at college/university that has helped you gain any different skills or experience additional to your core subjects? I’ve done a whole range of extra-curricular activities while at university which have allowed me to
gain a variety of skills from animal care, education, events management and team leadership. During
my first year, I started volunteering at The Flicka Foundation (the local donkey sanctuary) and I
became the events secretary for BioBlitz Penryn. During my second year, I become an education and
outreach volunteer at Falmouth Marine Conservation, I became a committee member for the
Employability Committee for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and continued
volunteering at The Flicka Foundation. Now in my third year, I’m the president of the Employability
Committee for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Flicka Liaison for the SU Flicka
Volunteering Project.
I’ve done a whole range of extra-curricular activities while at university which have allowed me to gain a variety of skills from animal care, education, events management and team leadership.
Millie Pitts
What advice do you have for someone who is choosing between different courses and colleges/universities? Go with where your heart wants you to go. For a career in conservation, it doesn’t matter where your university stands on the league tables, it’s about where you will be happy and how much you’ll learn.
Name: James Stubbs
Name of Course: BSc Ecology and Conservation
University Name: Nottingham Trent University
Year of Study: Third/Placement Year
What factors made you decide on this course and College/University?
NTU’s Brackenhurst Campus very quickly became my favoured place to study from when I first visited during an open day back in early 2018. The campus consists of lots of open green space, a historical main hall building and gardens, nearby student accommodation, eco-library, and newly installed lecture theatres, laboratories, and environment centre. The significant pull factors were the facilities which are specifically tailored for those studying environmental, animal, rural and/or geographical sciences, including the 200-hectare adjoining estate consisting of farmland, woodland and ponds to, for example, conduct ecological surveys and habitat management; ideal for the land-based, environmental and outdoor-oriented courses offered. The specific course attracted me as it connects the broad topic areas of environmental science, physical geography, wildlife conservation, and zoo biology, with a significant habitat and land-use focus. It also advocated my emotional connection to environmental conservation, realising the impacts of human activity on ecosystems and their importance to our survival in terms of the ecosystem goods and services that we gain from them across the globe.
Are your course/subjects helping you towards your career in the ways you expected?
The variety of modules offered within the course across the first and second years, and very confidently predicted into the final year, have encompassed a range of topic areas which have opened my mind to careers and scientific study in the world of ecology, conservation, and the environment more than expected. This has allowed me to develop knowledge and understanding of key areas, including conservation in practice and management planning, ecological processes and interactions (species/ habitats/ecosystems), environmental surveying and monitoring, and land, habitat and species mapping using key software such as GIS. The practical sessions, whether out in the field, in the laboratory, or on computers using specialised software/applications, have particularly developed key vocational attributes that I think would be valued by employers, in a strong ecological context. It is only recently however, from going onto placement and seeking advice from the Employability team, I have better understood aspects such as job applications/interviews, career progression/CPD, and the nature of different roles within sector.
Have you done anything else during your time at college/university that has helped you gain any different skills or experience additional to your core subjects?
The Placement Year, which I am currently on, is optional to the course and upon completion awards students with the Diploma in Professional Practice, which is an additional certificate alongside the Honours Degree. My main placement is secured with an environmental consultancy, with contracted work mostly in the spring, summer and early autumn months and thus far assisting with a range of ecological surveys for bats, breeding birds, great crested newts, water voles, reptiles, and habitat assessments such as PEAs. Throughout the first and second years, I became a member of the Student Union’s Conservation Society which coordinate a range of events during term time, including habitat management work parties, bird and mammal sighting trips, and a week-long trip to Scotland’s Isle of Mull and Cairngorms National Park in June 2019! During the second year, I became a Student Mentor at university alongside the Collaborative Engagement and Retention Team, working with staff and lead student mentors to organise and assist with engagement events aimed at easing first year students with their transition to the university and studying at Brackenhurst Campus.
What advice do you have for someone who is choosing between different courses and colleges/universities? Upon deciding which college/university to study at, I think a key consideration is what sort of environment you would feel most comfortable to work/study and potentially be living in, almost like when looking at jobs you think about the sort of place(s) you will be working at and how big the organisation/institution is. The reasons Brackenhurst specifically was my preferred choice, for example, was largely due to the campus size, surrounding green/open space, and situation away from the hub of the city centre, having come from a relatively rural area and a small-sized sixth form in my local town.
Upon deciding which college/university to study at, I think a key consideration is what sort of environment you would feel most comfortable to work/study and potentially be living in
James Stubbs
For choosing between different courses, it often comes down to the individual modules offered, especially as NTU offers a range of similar courses aside from BSc Ecology and Conservation including BSc Wildlife Conservation and BSc Environmental Science, and MSc Biodiversity Conservation and MSc Endangered Species Conservation. The BSc Ecology and Conservation course, however, attracted me the most due to the specific focus on habitats and land-use as opposed to species which was more orientated towards the BSc Wildlife Conservation course, as well as encompassing wider topic areas such as environmental policy and politics, climate change, and ecotourism. Therefore, be sure to spend time researching the individual aspects/modules for each course of interest to ensure you have tailored your final course choice to your personal preferences as much as possible.
For more advice in choosing the right course, check out our other guest contributors to The Hive blog, and listen to Episode 1 of The Hive podcast
The Hive Podcast 