Myerscough HE Animal Studies

It is always lovely to hear from our graduates when they get their first career job, recently Myerscough graduates have started new roles at Chester and Blackpool Zoos and really recently one of them, hired as a lab intern, has been offered a permanent scientist role at a biopesticide company. Meanwhile some graduates find their way back to Myerscough to work with the team that inspired them. Whatever your role - volunteer, intern or permanent, please do get in touch with your news once you have left us, we always want to hear how you are getting on! PS it is also useful when we are writing references for you in the future 😉

Last week’s collaboration day for Animal Studies was a real example of dividing and conquering. I attended the Morecambe Bay Curriculum Conference where I explored some of the fantastic resources that are available for teachers to use with students at all levels of education, including a green careers game for FE and HE students which I will be using next year. The day began with an insightful talk from Mike Berners-Lee about how to educate on the climate and nature emergency (encourage more right brain thinking, foster respect for people, truth and the environment, and encourage our young people to uncover dishonesty). A panel discussion of the current curriculum and assessment review followed which was chaired by Charles Clarke and included reps from Cambridge OCR and the Department of Education. We were also given an update by the Project Manager of The Eden Project Morecambe and I met up with a pal from my Uni of Bolton days. Meanwhile my fabulous HE and FE colleagues back at base were planning new classes and creating new resources. A big shout out to all the tutors who helped digging out our new pollinator garden on the animal unit – Emma R & Lizzie from our HE team, and Claire, Keira, Carla, Hannah and Amy from our FE team.

Congratulations to all of our graduating students. It was lovely to celebrate your day with you, especially in the glorious sunshine 🌞 🥳

When the fun of undergraduate study is over what do you do next? Why an MSc of course! Here is one of our current Masters students, Helen Ashton (also a FE/HE tutor with us), visiting Wild Discovery to discuss her plans for her dissertation research into capybara behaviour and physiology with Neil Trickett, the zoo owner.

Recently our Zoology students began their third year with a field trip to selected sites in the local area where they conducted pond surveys, trapped moths, and butterflies, collected tracks from various mammals and learned how to use tube traps and pitfall traps. We visited Dobcroft Local Nature Reserve, dipped into a system of ponds recently created adjacent to Royale's Brook, went rock pooling at Heysham and admired a fine example of acid grassland nearby, hunted for red squirrels at Formby and watched Daubenton's bats emerging at Crook O’Lune. Not to mention birds at Marshside and an extensive bioblitz at a site in Out Rawcliffe. We dropped in on our friends at the hedgehog hospital who were extremely busy with numerous rescued hogs and hoglets. All of this in the blistering heat. Huge thanks are due to a number of people who lent their time, expertise and equipment: Emma Ravenscroft for organising and leading, Claire Adamson & Matt Lewtas, Lauren Fairfax of Bowland Ecology, Radhe Bradley ecological surveyor and POMS specialist, Charlie Pass and Matt Watthey from Wyre Rivers Trust, Jean Foran and Steph Pinson at Dobcroft, Jeff Simpkin, Kayleigh Townsend, Melissa Wharram at Formby, Tony Parker for extra traps and Allis for photos. We didn't take many photos of humans as we were all too hot and bothered, but here is a selection of photos of some of the animals and plants that we found.

Opportunities!

🌵 WANTED! WANTED! 🌵INTERNATIONAL INTERNS.

Dreaming of gaining hands-on conservation experience in one of Namibia’s most spectacular desert landscapes?

Kanaan Desert Retreat is looking for enthusiastic international interns to join an exciting Quiver Tree Survey in the heart of the Namib Desert.

As a conservation-focused property, Kanaan is dedicated to protecting Namibia’s unique biodiversity through ecological monitoring, habitat protection, and sustainable land management. This internship offers a rare opportunity for BSc or MSc students, as well as recent graduates in Environmental Science, Ecology, or Conservation, to gain valuable field research experience while living and working in a truly breathtaking environment.

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Huge thanks to Jess Aikman for organising the end of year trip to Chester Zoo for our hard working students and staff yesterday. We were joined by Geoff Hosey who was delighted to see a copy of the first edition of his book “Zoo Animals” in the lab mock up display! No photos of humans as we were all too hot but here are some animal photos from the day including Womble the two month old aardvark and a cat eyed mantis (click on the rest of the photos to see it circled if you can’t find it in the main photo)

Last week was one of the proudest days of the year for HE lecturers at Myerscough. Our final year students presented the results of their research conducted over the last nine months at our showcase event. Numerous industry guests were invited to discuss the students’ work and meet the next generation of animal scientists joining the industry imminently. A huge thanks to all our industry partners who supported us on the day. Greenspace, Equine and Floristry departments also joined in the event so there was a really interesting diversity of research presented.
Award winners were Connie Rawcliffe (BSc Zoology) for Best Poster, Ashleigh Watkins (BSc Zoology) for Runner up Best Poster, both pictured below, and Sophie Melling (BA Equine Management) for the Aspinall Endeavour Prize (awarded to the student who has shown outstanding effort and dedication against the odds).
Very well done to all our students, we are proud of each and every one of you, it is tough presenting and being graded with an audience in attendance but you all smashed it!

https://www.myerscough.ac.uk/news/degree-students-celebrate-their-research-projects-at-annual-graduate-showcase/

May be of interest to our upcoming graduates 😊

Job opportunity 📢 Assistant Ecologist

Are you at the start of your ecological career and looking for a role where no two days are the same? We're looking for an enthusiastic and passionate individual to join our team, supporting the delivery of ecological consultancy services and conservation projects across the region.

🎯 Wednesday 29th April
🔗 Apply https://www.lancswt.org.uk/jobs/assistant-ecologist

You'll work alongside experienced ecologists on a varied programme of surveys, site visits, and client facing work, gaining hands on experience that spans the full project lifecycle, from fieldwork through to professional reporting.

Good luck! 🍀