Rilee Nurse joined our Conservation and Research team here at the Trust at the beginning of August. In this latest article, we’ve caught up with him to discover more about his work, background and ambitions:
“Receiving the job offer from the Trust was truly an amazing feeling. I had been keeping up to date with the various exciting projects here and knowing I would eventually be getting involved with them felt incredible. My love for the natural world and interest in the work done here at the Trust drove me to apply (and I’m extremely relieved that I did!). In addition to this, I also have an Instagram page dedicated to wild flora and fauna that I come across when exploring the outdoors.
The majority of the work I do at the Trust is based around social media, creating posts for our different platforms. I’ve also been involved with a few biodiversity surveys, as well as helping organise events such as International Vulture Awareness Day. As this was my first job primarily in an office, I did have a few concerns on how I would get on but the team here are so supportive and welcoming that my nerves were soon forgotten!
I’m very eager to start working on upcoming projects and events here at the Trust. These will help boost my confidence and allow me to really get stuck in the amazing work done here. I’m especially looking forward to getting familiar with all of our birds, not to mention the two Miniature Donkeys.
Before working with the Trust, I attended Sparsholt College and earned my Level 3 qualification in Animal Management (which I was over the moon about). During that period, I carried out various conservation projects such as transects, bird population surveys and using quadrats in biodiversity studies, to name a few. I believe these past experiences have benefitted me massively since joining the Trust because although I now have my own pre-existing knowledge, I also have the opportunity and willingness to learn whilst on the job which is perfect for me. Currently, I am working on a side project related to biodiversity in Reg’s Wildflower Meadow, setting up camera traps around the Trust and reviewing the footage. With the experiences I gained at Sparsholt, I’m aiming for the project to run smoothly and to hopefully show some intriguing results.
One of my key highlights so far is being allowed to release a rehabilitated Red Kite back to the wild from the National Bird of Prey Hospital™. You can watch a video of it below.
As my work here is over a 6-month period, I’m trying my utmost to help out the Trust in any way I can and in turn, continue to learn more and more every day about the fulfilling world of conservation. To be honest, I don’t think there’s anywhere else I’d rather be to do so! In the future I would love to travel the world, building a portfolio of photo and video footage to hopefully begin my journey in the production of wildlife documentaries.”
Rilee Nurse
Science Communications Intern
