Rachel Walker
Student spotlight details
A passion for the natural world and a desire to return to science led Rachel to pursue the Postgraduate Certificate in Ecological Survey Techniques and a new career path in ecological monitoring.
'I have always been interested in the natural world and studied for a Master's in Taxonomy and Biodiversity before completing a PhD in plant-pollinator interactions around 10 years ago. Since then, I have been running my own business, but I missed working in science and decided to retrain in ecological monitoring with the aim of working in conservation research. I now work with Barnes Conservation, a charity that is responsible for nature conservation work across multiple sites within the Borough of Richmond upon Thames. I monitor the impact of restoration works and management interventions across a range of habitats, particularly freshwater ecosystems. I also carry out conservation research projects on different taxa groups.
'I decided to take the Postgraduate Certificate in Ecological Survey Techniques because I thought it would be a good course to retrain for a career in conservation and monitoring. I also wanted to learn the key skills for surveying different species groups and habitats. After a time away from academia and research, the course provided a good opportunity to become proficient again in report writing and keeping up to date with the latest academic research. It was also a great opportunity to study more in-depth on subjects such as statistics, which I hadn't spent much time on previously, and these are really useful new skills.
'The course is part-time, but it was challenging to fit this around work and other responsibilities. Keeping on top of the reading material was essential, and making time to contribute throughout the week to the discussion groups online was also important. Having some previous experience in online learning could be helpful, but there are plenty of resources available in the course material, and your fellow students are always available for support.
'The most rewarding part of the course was the field project because it brought together everything we had learnt over the year. I really enjoyed spending a lot of time out in the field, getting to know the habitats I was studying in a lot of detail. This isn't usually possible in a job because you have other priorities. I was fortunate that my project also resulted in favourable conservation outcomes for amphibians in my local area and helped clean up polluted ponds. The project was challenging, but achieving results that could be applied by practitioners to restore degraded habitats was truly satisfying. I'm also looking forward to the next year of working on new conservation initiatives that have come from this project, and that will have a lasting positive impact on the environment.
'The course helped me retrain and return to a career that I’m passionate about. I was able to secure work that started as soon as I finished the course, because of the knowledge and experience that I gained. It has also given me the foundation to build more specialist skills in the future.
'I benefited from volunteering to get some practical experience with local conservation charities before applying for the course, and this meant that I was able to organise an interesting field project with the connections I had already made. It’s worth thinking about what sort of project you might want to do at the start of the course so that you have time to make plans and arrange the support you need.'
