Masters in Species Identification and Survey Skills Placement
Preparing for My Placement
Hi, my name is Megan and I am currently completing my placement with Ecology by Design as part of my MSc in Species Identification and Survey Skills at Reading University. During this time, I hope to record my experiences by posting a blog once a month.
Throughout the past six months I have been completing the academic half of the MSc SISS which has hopefully set me up for the next six months of placement. The master’s has been designed for educating postgraduate students in the practical skills and knowledge required for working in ecology. Many of the modules were designed and run by senior ecological consultants who have tailored them to fill the skill gaps that are commonly see in graduates joining the field. Furthermore, being able to ask senior ecologists and specialist speakers about their experiences has given me a better understanding about what to expect from a summer placement.
During my master’s I have learnt basic botanical identification, vertebrate identification, invertebrate identification and survey skills, professional skills and completed a weeklong introduction to GIS. Throughout the course I was also able to complete a phase 1 habitat survey, kick sampling, sweep netting and beating and an overwintering bird survey. I was also able to participate in habitat management via the field trips module where we visited many different wildlife centres and national trust sites. This was beneficial for improving my bird identification skills as many of these trips involved bird watching.
After learning some basic skills from the taught half of my master’s I now hope to be able to put this knowledge to use in the field. Besides the several field trips listed above, the master’s course lacked practical identification skills thus the ability to work with an ecological consultancy throughout their busiest season will aid in developing and improving these skills.
Due to COVID-19 the transition into my placement was not as I had expected. My first day involved a Zoom meeting and introduction with two other new starters where we were taken through the different online systems. Following this, a group Zoom video call where I got to meet all of the other members of the team and learn a little bit about each person and the species they enjoy working with.
While I am keen to get involved with all aspects of consultancy, one of the main areas I am looking forward to is working with reptiles and amphibians. I am looking forward to completing reptile surveys and translocations as well as surveying for great crested newts. Following my time at college working with captive bred reptile species, I am keen to learn about and work with native wild reptiles and hope to have the opportunity to enhance and improve their environment.
I am also really looking forward to gaining some experiencing with bat surveys. As this is one of the main surveys that is completed during the summer months, I am hoping to gain experience with all types of bat surveys. Prior to the beginning of the placement I was able to participate with surveying winter bat roosts with Berkshire bat group using an endoscope which I really enjoyed. I hope to build on this experience through participating in a variety of dusk and dawn surveys and completing both transects and emergence/re-entry surveys.
One skill I would like to develop during my placement is GIS mapping. I really enjoyed the one-week starter course that was incorporated into the SISS and hope to be able to learn more about its use in consultancy. Furthermore, I would like to learn more about report writing and the different styles of report used for different surveys. Another aspect that I would like to get involved with is tendering, gaining clients and quoting for projects. This is another part of ecological consultancy that was not covered by the SISS and I hope to gain these skills throughout my placement.
I am really looking forward to the beginning of my first survey season and throwing myself into completing a variety of tasks and surveys. Overall, I am looking forward to gaining experience with a range of different species and survey types and hope to collate this experience towards my protected species licences.
“We welcome MScSSIS students each year. We love working with new ecologists entering the field and we aim to share as much knowledge as we can to nurture the next generation”. Ben Gardner (Director,Ecology by Design)