I am a year 12 student and have undertaken a week of work experience with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. I really enjoyed my time at the trust, completing a wide range of tasks that gave me a good understanding of what it is like working in this field.  

Day 1 

On my first day of work experience I was in the main offices which are based in Middleton, near Matlock. I and another work experience student were tasked with some slow, but essential tasks such as taking inventory of what we have in the offices, counting and recording donations that get sent in, interviewing employees to see what their job is in the trust. This helped to give me an understanding of the variety of different jobs that are available, ranging from finance to policy and planning, to nature recovery, people and culture.

We also went on a walk around the local area looking for places to put bat boxes for bats to roost in. While scouting the area out, we observed a multitude of ash trees that were experiencing ash dieback, we learnt how this disease is spreading and slowly killing many ash trees. On the way back from the walk, we visited Gang Mine which is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) because of how plants have managed to grow on an area previously used to mine lead. The lead would usually poison the plants, but these have managed to survive in the poisonous soil. 

Day 2

On day 2 I was out in the field; we went to Erewash meadows to do some practical land management and path maintenance. We went through the meadows looking at different plant species that indicated a healthy meadow and observed a variety of butterflies in the area. One plant that has stuck with me was birds foot trefoil, also known as Eggs and Bacon plant. It is called this as the main bud of the flower remains yellow, while the petals sticking out turn a reddish colour, leading to the name ‘Eggs and Bacon’. 

Our aim on the day was to help fix some fencing that had come down and scope out the area to see how we could better control the cows in the field (a young bull had escaped into the neighbouring farmers field by crossing the river). We observed more ash dieback when walking along the riverbanks and learnt about the American signal crayfish which has been preying on the local white claw crayfish. 

Day 3

Day 3 we were in Morley brickyards which is another SSSI due to it being a site for a rare flower to grow (water violet) though it has not been spotted in the area for many years now. The wildlife trust is aiming to manage the area so hopefully the conditions will be right for the flower to grow back. This includes cutting down overhanging branches over the ponds as the flower likes clear open spaces. Morley Brickyards is also a unique habitat as it is a wet woodland, which is rare. The area was used to dig out clay for making bricks, and the pits have since been left and filled in with water and grown into this unique environment.

On the day we learnt all of this, and our aim was to put a new sign in that provides information about the site. We worked with a group of volunteers to dig deep holes into the ground, measuring and levelling the sign, making sure it's just right, and filling the holes with post Crete once the sign was in, mixing it with water, and filling in the rest of the hole with the soil that we had dug up to create the holes. The area is so beautiful and special, it reminds me of the Dagobah system in Star Wars, where Luke trains with Yoda. 

Day 4

On day 4 we were back in the office. My first task was inventory of the IT cupboard, then stamping some letters the trust had received. After this we were tasked with designing posters to promote people reporting their wildlife sightings to help collect data for the trust. I made one for Morley Brickyards and Cromford canal, both of which are SSSI sites. After this I created a presentation on the different careers in the trust based on the information, I gathered on my first day interviewing people. This presentation will be used for when DWT goes into schools and gives assemblies on career options. 

Day 5 

Finally, on my last day of work experience with the trust I have been asked to write this blog post on how my week with the trust has been and to create and label some packs to be distributed. Overall, I have really enjoyed my week with the trust, and I think it has given me many skills that I can bring with me into the future, especially in my future studies in university where I hope to study zoology. 

I feel incredibly lucky to be 1 of 5 students chosen to have a work experience placement with the Derbyshire wildlife trust. Working with others who are passionate about wildlife and the environment has been really fun and enjoyable.