Laura

Hello! I’m Laura, one of this year’s Trainee Ecologists for the Trust.  

Growing up I was constantly outside, searching for woodlice, rooting through mud to find worms, and rescuing bees from the side of the road (and learning that honeybees do not survive after stinging, something much to my dismay). A career in ecology was the obvious choice to indulge my passion for the natural world. Having done a Bachelors and a Master’s in zoology at university, I then began volunteering for a number of charities where I monitored butterfly populations, studied bats, and nursed hedgehogs back to health.  During the pandemic, I was struggling to find a job in the ecology and conservation sector until I was lucky enough to get the Trainee Ecologist job here at the Trust. 

I have been working at the Trust for a couple of months now and have already learnt so much. There have already been a lot of firsts for me,; seeing my first Duke of Burgundy butterfly, hearing my first nightingale, seeing a sleeping (and very adorable) dormouse, and seeing my first native, white-clawed crayfish. 

There is never a dull day with surveys ranging from studying mayfly larvae to monitor water quality, identifying rare and beautiful butterflies, or searching for rare plant species hiding between meadow grasses. Identification can be tricky sometimes with species mimicking others, or minute differences leading to a completely different identification. But there is nothing I would rather do than walk through the undergrowth in search of our wonderful, fascinating, charismatic species that call the UK home. I have already learnt so much and gained many new skills, as well as ticked off a few rare species off my ‘must see’ list but there is still so much to learn and see! 

There are still a few months left of my traineeship and now that summer is in full swing, there are lots of species out and about that need surveying. So, I had better end this here and head on out! 

 Mali 

I always thought that the “cool” nature was somewhere far away: the Amazon rainforest, the Arctic tundra, the tropical coral reefs or the plains of America. Steve Backshall, David Attenborough, and Gordan Buchanan always went off on adventures, exploring far off worlds that I could only dream of exploring for myself. I went to the University of Exeter expecting to specialise in the conservation of an exotic animal or habitat and spend my career in a faraway land. But one lecturer at university opened my eyes and showed me that I need look no further than my backdoor to discover the incredible British wildlife.  

I have been a trainee ecologist with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust for only two months, but this short time has further shown me how magical the British countryside is. I have experienced drama as pied wagtails chase after banded demoiselles as fast as cheetahs, the beauty of a silver-washed fritillary dancing down from the treetops, flashing their large amber wings over the pinkish bramble flowers, and new life in the form of little blue tit chicks nestled away in dormouse boxes or juvenile slow worms hiding under our reptile mats. My eyes have been opened to the diversity of flora and fauna here in England, especially to butterflies, bumblebees, Odonata and Orthoptera, of which I spend the majority of my days surveying. 

The learning curve as a Trainee Ecologist has been a steep one. Each day I learn something new, discovering a new species for myself and learning its key identifying features, or which plants exist in which habitats, or how to record and analyse survey results. I am excited to even further enhance my knowledge for the English countryside through helping with white-clawed crayfish releases, water vole surveys and seaside shell identification. There’s still a lot to learn, so on with the job! 

We will both be writing blogs over the rest of our traineeships to keep you up to date with what we have been up to, the species that are currently out and about, threats to our native species and the conservation projects that we have been involved in helping to protect them.