Students & Volunteering
I
would very much like to encourage students to make use of my resources
and my family's land in order to carry out valuable research. When
coming up with ideas for a dissertation project, I know only too well
how difficult it can be to find a suitable fieldwork site with on-hand
expertise, laboratory space and accessability to land/animals. Another
major consideration is often cost of accomodation in the area.
My
family owns 100 acres of land in St Davids, consisting of a stretch of
the River Alun, an area of wetland (marshy grassland), scrub and
sycamore woodland, semi-improved grassland and improved grassland. The whole area is surrounded by
thick, wildlife-rich hedges and we graze our own Welsh Black cattle as
well as ponies in the summer and sheep in the winter. In the area, I
also work closely with a number of other farmers who are willing to
open-up their land for research projects. Our own land is near to the
biologically well-known Dowrog Common and the species-rich coastal
heath of St Davids Head.
I
have laboratroy space that can be used and there is plenty of
inexpensive accomodation close-by. For those on a really tight budget,
there are many camp-sites.
2012 Students:
Rachel Davies (Glamorgan University MSc student). Dissertation Project: Examining the impacts of moxidectin residues
within sheep dung on soil and dung fauna and functioning
2011 Students:
Christopher Lovell (Volunteer)
2010 Students:
Tom Bishop (University of Oxford undergraduate student). Dissertation Project
(1st class honours): Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) and ground beetles
(Coleoptera: Carabidae) as food for the chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) on Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire
David Williams (University of Oxford MSc student). Dissertation Project (1st class honours): Soil Invertebrates as a food source for the chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) on Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire
Laura Green (School Work Experience Student)
2009 Students:
Michaela Peck (University of Oxford undergraduate student). Dissertation Project
(2:1): 'The impact of alternative feed supplements on dung
invertebrates'
Sabrina Hearn (University of Oxford undergraduate student): Dissertation Project (2:1): 'North temperate dung decomposition: mesocosm experiments to measure the
relative importance of dung invertebrates in the decomposition of cattle dung'
Volunteering
I
would also be thrilled if any one would like to come and volunteer with
me in St Davids. during the summer or Oxford during the winter. Gaining knowledge of practical fielwork and laboratory
skills not only looks good on the CV, but also prepares you in advance
for any projects you may complete in the future. Volunteering also
allows you to get out into the countryside and carry out conservation
activities that will actively help to conserve biodiversity.
If you were interested in volunteering, here is a brief list of things you might be doing:
→Assisting in biodiversity surveys
→Assisting with fieldwork projects in the area
→Assisting with recording insects, especially beetles
→Attending recording days with other local recorders
→Manually controlling scrub growth on an area of wetland
→Carrying out your own small project within whatever timescale you wish
→Working in the laboratory sorting samples of insects from the UK, Honduras and Zambia
→Learning to identify the different insect orders
→Learning to identify some UK insects to species
→Learning how to pin and label insect specimens in the accepted way
I can also find you voluntary work with other Biodiversity organisations in the area.
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