Amy's Experience

“Throughout the last few months, I have had the opportunity to carry out a placement with HIWWT as an Ecological Field Surveyor. I am about to go into my final year at the University of Southampton studying Environmental Science with a Year in Employment, on the Biodiversity and Conservation pathway. During my placement year I was based on an RSPB reserve located in the southwest of Scotland and another in the Lake District. These were both amazing opportunities however working with HIWWT gave me the opportunity to contribute to conservation work closer to where I am studying. Some of my main interests are the methods and successfulness of rewilding projects and also human and wildlife interactions.

The majority of the work was carried out across five sites in the New Forest as part of the Our Past Our Future project. Part of this project is to educate and help landowners manage their land effectively for biodiversity. I along with another placement student monitored the land to see how biodiversity had changed from year to year as a result of this partnership work. Monitoring mainly consisted of evening bat surveys where we would start at sunset and walk along a set transect route using a bat detector and recorder to record any bats present. After collecting the data, we would then analyse the recordings to identify the species of bat using the peak frequency and call shape. We also carried out invertebrate surveys, specifically butterfly and bumblebee. Again, this would consist of following a set transect route and identifying any butterfly and bumblebee species sighted. At a few sites we also did some fixed-point photography to compare how the site has progressed throughout the years.

We have also contributed to the New Forest Non-Native Plants Project which has the main objective of stopping the spread of non-native plants in the New Forest area. This involved the removal of Himalayan balsam along the watercourses. This work also linked in with the Our Past Our Future project, where we were surveying for non-native species, and mapping the presence of rhododendron, cherry laurel and turkey oak.

A highlight of the placement has been going across to the Trust’s relatively new sites, Wilder Little Duxmore and Wilder Nunwell on the Isle of Wight to help with baseline monitoring to gain an understanding of the biodiversity present, as the sites were previously arable farms. Here we assisted in moving the camera traps and static bat detectors around the sites and also some invertebrate surveys. It was exciting to see and get a close up look at several clouded yellow butterflies. Whilst wandering around Duxmore we also got a glimpse of two kestrels hovering and a barn owl flying out from the woodland. Some of the sites have been challenging to survey due to long vegetation especially in the dark (for the bat surveys) but this was normally rewarded by hearing a range of different bat species. Also using new software, Kaleidoscope, to analyse the bat recordings took a while to get used to.

This placement has helped me realise that I aspire to become a reserve warden/ ranger. I thoroughly enjoyed the practical elements of this placement and I feel a warden position would have the right balance between practical and desk work whilst also gaining in depth knowledge on the wildlife and habitats of a particular reserve.

Amy, Ecological Field Surveyor Student Placement 2022

Chloe's Experience

“I am currently studying Environmental Science at the University of Southampton and was lucky enough to be one of two summer placement students for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust this year.  I applied for the role of Ecological Field Surveyor through the University right away after seeing the advert. My degree programme pathway focuses on biodiversity and conservation, both of which are strong passions of mine, so having the opportunity to gain surveying experience was invaluable to me and something that I knew I would enjoy doing. I always try to get outdoors as much as possible during the summer months and I love learning how to ID different fauna and flora, so this role was perfect for me.

This role was largely fieldwork-based and included a variety of tasks, most of which were part of the Trust’s “Our Past, Our Future” project. It was really interesting to be introduced to the various projects that the Trust currently undertakes and how I would be a part of them. Over the few months I spent at the Trust I really got to know the sites that I was working on, and they came with their own unique characteristics. I gained incredibly valuable skills in invertebrate surveying, focusing on butterflies and bumblebees. I started this placement with not much experience identifying invertebrates, but now feel confident in my abilities to ID them. It was lovely to see such a diversity of species at some of these sites.

I also gained experience identifying acoustic bat calls, which was such a cool experience. It was quite surreal setting out at sunset with a bat detector in one hand and recorder in the other listening to bats. It was a challenge to overcome the initial spookiness of wandering the woods at night, but it was worth it to be able to hear all the bat calls and become accustomed to all the different species. I also learnt how to analyse the recordings at home with the Kaleidoscope software, despite being challenging, I improved each time I used the software. I think the bat surveys were one of the highlights of the placement overall, looking up at the sky and seeing so many bats was just amazing, especially watching them forage over the lake. Another highlight was the awe-inspiring sunset I witnessed before one of the bat surveys.

Other tasks that myself and the other placement student assisted with were non-native species mapping, fixed point photography and woodland condition assessments. It was nice to experience this placement as a pair, learning and working together. Additionally, I got to visit the Isle of Wight for the first time when assisting with some invertebrate surveys there. I have a strong interest in rewilding, so seeing the Trust’s recently acquired rewilding sites on the Isle of Wight was super interesting and it’s so nice to see local rewilding projects taking place. There were also additional volunteer opportunities to take part in depending on your interests, I chose to assist with some coastal bird surveys, which involved some lovely trips to the beach to assess the impacts of water sports on coastal birds.

I plan to continue assisting with some volunteering at the Trust during my final year at university and I feel that this opportunity has given me such valuable experience for my future endeavours. My career aspiration is to become an ecologist, more specifically working on conservation or rewilding projects. So I am very grateful for the opportunity and skills that I have gained this summer.”

© Chloe, Ecological Field Surveyor Student Placement 2022