Wenna Grigg
Student spotlight details
Wenna felt that her undergraduate degree hadn't fully equipped her with the practical skills she needed for a career in ecology, so enrolled on the PGCert in Ecological Survey Techniques. She is now working to restore habitats in the Greater Thames Estuary, and uses the practical skills she gained on the course daily.
'After finishing my Master’s in Biology at the University of Bristol, I began working full-time as an academic mentor during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, I always had aspirations of returning to biology, and working in conservation and ecology. So I began volunteering with my local conservation groups, such as Cornwall Wildlife Trust, to develop my practical field skills and broaden my understanding of working in this sector.
'I felt my undergraduate degree had not equipped me with the practical skills and knowledge I needed for a career in ecology and conservation. So I started looking for a comprehensive course that could teach me different surveying techniques for different taxa, how to design a field research project, and how to analyse field data and map data in QGIS. The Postgraduate Certificate in Ecological Survey Techniques offered the opportunity to learn from high achieving academics and put what was learned into a practical field project.
'I loved that the PGCert was taught part-time and online, as it allowed me to work part-time and continue with my volunteering. However, I did sometimes find it difficult to turn in assignments to what I felt was the best of my ability under different time pressures.
'I found the field research project the most rewarding and enjoyable element. I decided to undertake mine in partnership with Dynamic Dunescapes, as I wanted to carry out a survey that could be useful in some way. They expressed a need for skylark surveys on one of their sand dune sites, to map where they are nesting so that they can encourage dog walkers to be keep their dogs on leads to reduce skylark nesting disturbance. I loved designing the project so that it fitted my own personal goals but also aligned with what the project was needing. I also learned how to model the habitat suitability of skylarks to predict where on the dunes they were nesting. I’m really proud that my work was useful for skylark conservation on this sand dune site.
'After finishing the PGCert, I completed an internship at the Zoological Society of London working on coastal habitat restoration. This internship then led onto a full-time role as a Project Officer on the ‘Restoring the Thamescape’ project, which aims to restore habitats such as seagrass, native oyster reefs, and saltmarsh in the Greater Thames Estuary to improve biodiversity, sediment stabilisation, water quality, and carbon sequestration in these waters. I feel really privileged to have a role that is the perfect balance between field work and desk-based work, and I’m really grateful for all the surveying and data analysis knowledge that I learned in the PGCert which I now use in my role today.
'I would say, if you’re inspired to work in ecology and conservation and you’re looking to up-skill your field research and survey planning and data analysis knowledge, it’s definitely the right course to do so. I would recommend carefully managing your other personal commitments, such as work and volunteering, so that you can fully embrace the course and the reading/learning available.'
