WHAT IT’S LIKE ON PLACEMENT AT THE TRUST
Jack has been on placement as part of our Native North Tyne project for 3 months, here he gives an insight into what it’s been like…
“I graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2021 with a degree in Environmental Science and have recently started a six-month placement with Tyne Rivers Trust, through the Department of Work and Pensions’ Kickstart scheme.
I studied a wide variety of subject areas during my degree, including fluvial geomorphology and hydrology, and now thanks to this placement I can apply a lot of them in a practical way while gaining experience of working in the environmental sector.
As well as working on the Native North Tyne project which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, I’ve been able to shadow different members of the team to find out what kind of job they do and help them carry out tasks.
This has included helping with practical conservation tasks with volunteers. From getting into the Ouseburn to reinforce a bank with willow spiling to digging out an overgrown wetland on the River Derwent.
I’ve also been learning about the effects of pollution from farming on the river, visiting farms with our farms liaison officer, Danielle, to help identify potential pollution sources and test the quality of water there. This was a good opportunity for me to do some work in the field, as the amount of fieldwork I could do at university was limited by the COVID pandemic.
I’m also hoping to develop my skills with geographical information systems which is very useful in a variety of fields, not only the environmental sector. To do this I have created a map of sewage outlets in the catchment, and who owns them, using GIS software.
This placement has given me a lot of practice in communicating in the workplace, which I had fairly limited experience of beforehand. I’ve also gained a lot of practical knowledge about the various organisations involved in protecting and improving our natural environment, what their roles are, and how they interact.This is all very useful experience as I’d like to pursue a permanent job in the environmental sector in future
Overall, I’ve enjoyed the first half of my placement with the Trust a lot and am looking forward to another three months of diverse and interesting experiences.”
