I had no idea what my first few months would look like the day I started my placement – no idea of the skills I would learn, the people I’d meet and the experiences I’d have. My typical week is split in half: half GIS, half Natural Capital Advisory (NCA) – this allows me to gain a variety of different skills from both teams.
In the GIS team, I’ve had the privilege of working on some incredibly meaningful projects – one being the Partridge Count Scheme. I create maps using ArcGIS which aid research into the conservation of farmland birds, giving information on their nesting habits, breeding success and more over the years. I’ve also created maps for the South Downs Farmland Bird Initiative which show the breeding population trends of birds such as Linnets, Skylark, and Yellowhammer. These maps contribute towards helping farmers to create safer habitats for birds such as these as well as other farmland wildlife.
I have learned many new skills in ArcGIS, which makes me excited to further expand my skillset over the course of my placement. Knowing that my work is so important for the future of farmland birds makes the job incredibly rewarding, which has encouraged me to research a variety of conservation GIS career options to consider the future.
NCA provides advice and services to farmers, investors, corporates, housing developers and local authorities nationwide. They help convene the Environmental Farmers Group (EFG), Peakland Environmental Farmers (PEF) and Swaledale and Wensleydale Environmental Farmers (SWEF), enabling them to access natural capital opportunities with auditing, brokering and monitoring support. This helps farmers to achieve environmental targets while securing fair financial rewards.
No day with the NCA is the same, as I get to do lots of different tasks, which I’ve found very useful – it’s given me insight into what people in different aspects of the business do day to day, and how this contributes towards promoting biodiversity and species recovery in the farming community and helping farmers to achieve better environmental and financial results. Some of the work I’ve been able to do has included creating maps of EFG, PEF and SWEF farms using GIS; scoring farm habitat quality using biodiversity metrics; maintaining the farmer database on Land App and much more.
My work with NCA occasionally takes me outside of the office too – I recently had the opportunity to attend an EFG Members meeting, where discussions took place on maximizing opportunity for biodiversity net gain, natural capital trading and more. It was a great opportunity to be able to chat to some of the farmers at the event, and I thought it was interesting watching farmers discuss these topics among themselves and share advice with one another. There was a lovely buzz in the room, and I feel really privileged to have been a part of it!
One of the best parts of my placement has been living with the other placement students on site at the cottages. We ‘re done a whole lot together, from quiet evenings playing card games to pub trips and exploring the local area. One of my favourite things is everyone coming over after work to watch a movie or whatever’s on TV and enjoy some baked treats! The New Forest is also right on our doorstep, so it’s ideal being able to get out and surround ourselves with beautiful scenery whenever we want.
As I look back at my first four months, I already feel that my placement has exceeded expectations in the amount that I’d learn in such a short period of time, and I’m excited to continue learning and contributing to the important work both teams do in the new year.
