About me
If you’ve found your way to this blog, I can only assume but also hope that you have somewhat of an interest in plants, even if that interest is but a seed for now. To you, I introduce myself as Charlotte Williams, a 2nd year student studying Ecology and Conservation with an unstoppable passion for plants.
Continue reading “Habitat Summer Placement”
We attended the UK Young Coastal Scientists and Engineers Conference, our first-ever conference, and it was a great yet somewhat scary experience!
After our abstract applications were accepted in February, we started the daunting task of preparing our posters, learning the best way to display the data, and making summaries with enough information but without being overwhelming. This was a learning curve, but the outcome of our posters was great, and we were all very proud of what we produced.
Continue reading “Our first science conference experience”
Brighton and Sussex universities are set to go head-to-head again this year in a friendly competition to help boost ecological engagement. For more information watch the short video below:
MRes Ecology and Conservation student Sarah George, really enjoyed the day spent on the Sussex IFCA boat (Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority), as part of the Ecotoxicology module.
“The boat trip with the IFCA was a real education and I’m so grateful for this opportunity. I have not previously experienced aquatic sampling and just being able to be part of the process and see how things were done was fantastic – even down to the clear sequential labelling of samples and being able to visualise how large a sample actually was (much smaller than I’d thought).
Simple things like rinsing the filter with clean water rather than seawater make so much more sense when you’re there as you can visualise how this would alter the sample you’d just collected. Setting up and operating the sediment grab is something you can only really appreciate by doing it, the idea is simple but actually getting it to work needs hands on experience. Again, being able to see how the sediment varied from site to site and even from one side of the boat to the other, told a really strong story.
Continue reading “Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority boat trip”
Abbie Hobbs graduated in Ecology and Conservation in January 2022. Read her story….
As a very recent Ecology and Conservation BSc graduate, I am sharing how a slightly unusual path through my course gave me a head start on my career.
I started my undergraduate course in 2016 and really enjoyed the wide-ranging content, from micro-biology to behavioural ecology. When a sandwich placement year was offered, I decided it would be a good opportunity to get some work experience before graduating and might help me get an idea of the kind of jobs I could work towards. The careers service was extremely helpful with finding possible placements, writing applications, and preparing for interviews. Continue reading “Getting a head start on your career”
As part of the celebrations for International Women’s Day on 8th March the Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee would like to invite you and your students to participate in a Poster Competition. Continue reading “International Women’s Day 8th March 2022 poster Competition”
Every year more students are joining ecology courses, and so I find it is important they get the guidance and advice they need. So, I do hope whatever field you are in if it’s ecology, biology, or biomedical science you can appreciate how enriching experiences like this are. Continue reading “My first few months on placement”
After applying and securing the seven-week research internship for Sea Watch Foundation (SWF) at the start of the year, in September 2021, I headed to New Quay. New Quay is in West Wales (not Cornwall!) which was a new discovery for me! Sea Watch Foundation are a marine conservation charity that work nationally collecting data and promoting citizen science from UK coastlines.
The internship in New Quay is dedicated to their long-term project monitoring the dolphins of Cardigan Bay. This has been in place since 2000 and is recognised as the largest dolphin monitoring project in Europe. This project and its dedicated work have enabled two Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to be introduced to Cardigan Bay, successfully providing protection not only for the semi-resident dolphin population, but for the diverse marine habitat associated with the bay.
Since my last blog I have been keeping very busy! Autumn is a busy season for the FSC, here at Malham Tarn we have had multiple A-level groups, GCSE groups, University groups and more. I have been supporting the tutors in grassland ecology field sessions, helping to learn about various surveys techniques, plant identification and more. This has really helped me to improve my own plant identification and each week I notice myself becoming more confident and remembering more and more plants. I have been given the opportunity to lead more groups through the peat bog, discussing with them how it is formed, succession and the important species it is home to.
Third year Ecology and Conservation student Kayleigh was part of the group of students who joined Professor Hawkins from the University of Southampton on his rock pool surveys earlier this year. Find out how she got involved, what she worked on and more about studying Ecology and Conservation at Brighton, (you can read about Amy’s experience on the project here, too).
I heard about this opportunity through Dr. Corina Ciocan via a Teams group dedicated to rockpool exploration. Which really shows how important networking with your peers/teaching staff is! Continue reading “Making the most of networking opportunities to take part in research”