I started at Ecology by Design in April 2020, following the completion of my Masters in Species Identification and Survey Skills at the University of Reading.
I had heard great things about the company through the grapevine and was very excited to start my first official job in ecology. However, the weekend before my first day we were plunged into the first COVID-19 lockdown, which was an uncertain and bizarre time for all of us.
Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic and on a temporary contract at the time, EBD still put a significant amount of time and energy into developing me as a junior ecologist. For example, they organised regular (virtual) mentoring meetings to see how I was doing and what I would like to gain experience in, held virtual CPD training presentations on survey techniques, species identification and consultancy skills and when lockdowns started easing, took me out on surveys and shared their incredible knowledge.
Following that initial season at EBD in which I had learnt a huge amount, I returned to the company in November 2021 as an Ecologist on a permanent basis.
From day one of re-joining the organisation, I have not looked back as the opportunities and team culture at EBD are fantastic. The management at EBD have a very people-orientated approach and put a lot of focus on helping individuals gain experience in their interests and achieve their goals.
Just some examples of training highlights include multiple in-person botany courses (with the fantastic Species Recovery Trust), bat handling training and putting me on to a level 2 bat licence training course, which I am due to start this year. We also have regular mentoring meetings and reviews every six months with our mentors to see how we’re doing and outline our aims/goals. Our workload is balanced and projects are properly resourced. We’re also encouraged to share which survey or project types we would like to gain more experience in, where we think we are doing well and where we feel we could improve or fill gaps in our knowledge. These aims and goals are genuinely heard and implemented by our mentors. For instance, I wanted to learn more about dormouse surveys last year, so I was booked on to various online and in-person dormouse survey courses and am now confident in conducting surveys and impact assessments for the species.
All of this training is with the backdrop of constantly gaining experience on a wide range of projects, many of which are highly complex and interesting. For example, botanical surveys for large estates wanting to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain sites, rare reptile and nightjar surveys for prospective minerals sites, peregrine falcon monitoring surveys at a minerals site and a multitude of habitat and protected species surveys for solar and wind farms, including my favourite survey type – breeding and wintering bird surveys.
Through the extensive training and experience gained on a wide variety of interesting projects, I have built up a vast amount of knowledge within the sector in what is a relatively short amount of time. This led to my promotion to a Senior Ecologist in June 2024. Thanks to the support and training I have received, I’ve been able to hit the ground running in my new role and this excitement and enthusiasm for the job is testament to the fantastic, supportive (and great humoured!) team around me.
Jan 2025