I honestly cannot believe how fast the time has gone. From starting in May just four days after finishing university to now having completed 6 months of my Green Future leader’s internship and applying for my next job in conservation, the time seems to have flown by. The internship has done wonders for my confidence, and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to try so many distinct aspects of the conservation sector.  

Putting on events and working with youth – a big highlight

One of the best challenges within this job has been getting opportunity to plan, advertise and run events for the trust. It has given me the opportunity to be creative by producing different activities that interest young children and getting them excited about nature. I’m especially proud of one of my creations—the “mystery box”—a box with a hole for children to reach through and guess what’s inside. The community and youth engagement aspect of my role has been incredibly fulfilling. I had the chance to support youth group sessions and even helped run a summer camp in July. Working with young people, who bring so much enthusiasm for the natural world, has been a true highlight. Teaching them about the importance of nature has not only been fun but also meaningful, making me realise that I’d love to continue youth engagement in my future roles.

Collaboration and teamwork – Getting things done!

Working alongside the trainees also felt incredibly rewarding. Collaborating with other enthusiastic people who are working to expand their knowledge like me created wonderful atmosphere to work with. Getting the chance to lead and to share my experience with being a long-term volunteer in the past was also extremely rewarding. Together with these trainees, we completed surveys and work for Pentwyn Farm. I have never worked at a rewilding site before, so it was an eye-opening experience. We got the opportunity to complete hedgerow surveys, butterfly and bee transects and BTO breeding bird surveys on the site. It is wonderful to be part of such important initial surveys on the site as it will be vital to showing in the future how the landscape has changed.

The internship has also given me the chance to collaborate with volunteers. I gained experience managing volunteers through the Trusts Tuesday volunteer group. The group focuses on practical management tasks which included work such as creeping thistle control and green hay spreading. I have really enjoyed getting to know all the volunteers and I have learned massive amounts from their experiences and knowledge of the different reserves. I also have assisted in the running of the Gilfach rangers’ group which is a surveying group of volunteers that meet every other Friday. I enjoyed inputting and analysing their data through the years, creating fascinating results which could then be used to alter management practices of the reserve in the future, and this felt extremely rewarding.

Improving my ID skills

Since starting in May, I have loved increasing my ID skills through a wide range of disciplines. Botany poised a particular challenge, but I now feel confident in completing grassland surveys. I have completed a range of botany surveys including quadrat surveys and rapid grassland assessments. I particularly enjoyed learning about different grass species, though my favourite will always remain the same, Yorkshire fog.

As part of my internship and to increase my experience in planning and completing tasks, I have been able to set up and run my own projects. I have taken responsibility of upgrading the media within bird hides located on two Radnorshire reserves. I have also been able to complete regular moth trap surveys at our Gilfach reserve. I had very little moth ID experience prior to the start of the internship. Through these regular moth traps, I have grown increased appreciation for all moths of different shapes and sizes. I can now confidently say that my favourite species of moth is the Snout Moth (Hypena proboscidalis

A huge thank you to everyone at RWT

Being an intern at the Radnorshire wildlife trust has been an amazing experience that I will never forget. I have found my colleagues truly inspirational, and I feel like I have learnt so much knowledge and skills. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has welcomed me at the trust and helped me throughout my internship. I have gained so much from it and has been a truly memorable first step into the working world of conservation. I wish all past trainees and future trainees, the best of luck in all their endeavours.

Written by Grace Marston