Meet Lauren and Mathilde – the newest interns on the block! Supported with funding from Investec, they’ve joined our Conservation, Research and Education Team for six month each to help kickstart their careers in conservation. From working with our school groups to undertaking onsite bird surveys, each day is different at the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Keep reading to hear more about their work with us so far.
Mathilde – Conservation and Research Intern
I am delighted to be joining the Hawk Conservancy Trust as a Conservation and Research Intern. My love for birds, in particular birds of prey, stemmed from nature travel in the UK and abroad in tandem with spending time birding with my grandfather. My interest and love for birds has only grown, in particular since discovering how much I enjoyed bird ringing during university.
I graduated last year from the University of Bristol with a Master’s degree in Zoology where I studied chorusing behaviour in Village Weavers for my dissertation project. I have been spending the last year working on various bird-related projects worldwide. From caring for Darwin Finches on Floreana, in the Galapagos, to monitoring migrating species at Skagen bird observatory, in Northern Denmark, to working with Blue and Great Tits in Wytham woods for the University of Oxford, I have been quite busy. While in the Galapagos, I got the chance to help out on the Short-eared Owl mitigation and fell in love with the birds and have been wanting to have another opportunity to work with such magnificent birds of prey again.
As an Intern at the Trust, I will be carrying out various surveys to continue the assessment of on-site biodiversity including moths, reptiles and birds, which means you will probably see me roaming around with my binoculars and clipboard. In addition to this onsite work, I’ll be working on a meadow comparison project and continuing the small mammal monitoring.
Lauren – Conservation Education Intern
I have always been passionate about animals and having completed my BSC (Hons) in Animal Behaviour I was certain I was going to go into a career working with them. Then I moved to Southampton and got a job working in Pharmacy, which was not quite the career I had planned for! I worked for the NHS for 5 years and during that time I really enjoyed the job, in particular training new members of staff, but I still longed for that career of working in nature.
In January I saw an advertisement for this fun looking Winter Woodlands Lights event at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, having missed the Christmas lights I had hoped to see, this seemed like a great opportunity. Not only was it stunning lights, but it included owls, one of my favourite birds! Not long after visiting I saw the advert for the Conservation Education Internship. Having really enjoyed training at my previous job, having a love of birds of prey and wanting to get into a wildlife career it seemed like the perfect path, so I was delighted when I was offered the internship.
During my internship I have been staying on site, allowing me to be entirely immersed in nature, including being surrounded by birds singing from dawn until dusk and even sometimes during the night! I’ve also been helping out with some of the conservation efforts on site, including moth trapping and small mammal trapping. No day at the Trust has been the same so far, and I have been involved in several projects including evaluating our conservation messages that will be shared on International Vulture Awareness Day. I also have been helping run, evaluate and even set up a workshop for children visiting with their schools. And, very excitingly, I have created my own educational game which some lucky children (and adults!) got to enjoy at our spectacular Dream Night!
The skills and knowledge I have learnt at the Trust will help me greatly towards achieving my goal of gaining a career in nature!
