My experience with Avon Wildlife Trust started back in 2017, when i had work experience with the land management team. This gave me the passion and satisfaction for conserving wildlife through habitat restoration! So, once I completed my FDSC in Integrated Wildlife Conservation, I applied for the volunteer placement they had advertised, 3 days a week working on various teams within the trust.

I was here for 11 months, assisting Jen the Monitoring Officer (now GIS and Monitoring Manager) on monitoring the flora of reserves the Trust owned or leased. This improved my identification skills, as in order to preserve a habitat you need to know what is growing in it, and how to manage the plants that are not supposed to be there. I also helped with the Wild City Action, Wildlife Action Group and Pollinating Corridor teams which gave me extensive experience of reserve, volunteer, and species management.

I then went to Avalon Marshes to complete some protected species surveys, which included bitterns, eels, large marsh grasshoppers, great crested newt and shrill carder bees.

After the pandemic started, I begun a volunteer placement with Somerset Wildlife Trust, which gave me more experiences with volunteer groups and reserve management.

During all this studying and volunteering, I had gone from working in a supermarket to being a ground maintenance operator for a company in North Somerset. It wasn't something I could see myself doing forever, but taking that step has given me some great skills and experience which conservation employers look for, as it's an outside, practical role.

I initially applied for a different role at Avon Wildlife Trust to the one I ended up in, however they saw my experience in monitoring and surveying and thought of me for this one: Project Assistant for the North Somerset Rewilding Champions!

Of course, I said YES! I was so happy, I started my conservation career volunteering with Avon Wildlife Trust and now, they have given me a great opportunity to work for them. Even though it was a temporary role, any experience I could get I was going to take it.

I was asked to come towards the end of the project, as the previous Project Manager was given an opportunity he couldn’t miss. I had the support of Julie, the Head of Communities and Engagement, and she helped me through my first few weeks. During my first week I had the induction to the charity and visited the sites with my two colleagues who were on placement, Alfie and Arthur.

It was challenging recruiting the volunteers and organising engagement events, but I had the help of Julie, Arthur and Alfie to get me through. Then I met the People and Wildlife Manager, Irene, who had just come back from maternity and needed us to fill her in on the project's progress.

Creating engagement events and producing presentations on zoom was definitely something new for me, as I am generally a shy, quiet person by nature. This role has taught me to believe in myself and my knowledge, and s given me the push I needed to continue in my search for that dream job in conservation. If the guys at Avon Wildlife Trust believe in me, then I need to believe in myself!

I have had a lot of fun in this role, getting to know the team and volunteers has been one of the many highlights. From learning how to communicate with stakeholders to heading monitoring and engagement events and talking about nature to the local people, it has all been worth it. I am really looking forward to the future and what will happen next in my career.