I have always been interested in wildlife and conservation, so I really enjoyed my work experience at Lackford Lakes. We participated in a range of activities which helped to give me an idea of the wide variety of jobs available at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and career pathways in the environment sector.

We began our week of work experience with a survey of the aquatic life in one of the ponds. We found and identified many different species, this was also useful for enhancing our practical skills. We were then introduced to the role of an engagement officer, and we learnt about the role and how it is key to promoting the Trust and engaging the public.

On our next day we learnt about communications and human resources. We each created a TikTok for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust page. Mine focused on swifts which are spend almost their entire life flying – they can even sleep in the air. We then got the opportunity to speak to someone from human resources who had lots of information about careers with wildlife. She was also able to explain her role within the Wildlife Trust and how essential it is to running the Trust.

The day after we helped at holiday club. We helped to engage younger children in activities surrounding the natural environment. For example, we organized a scavenger hunt and visited the hides where the children drew pictures of the different animals they could see. This day was very rewarding as we got to see the children enjoying themselves in nature.

After this we did work with the reserves team, helping to resurface the paths before doing kick sampling in one of the rivers. This is where you stand in a river holding a net downstream and kick up sediment from the bottom of the river which causes small aquatic life to land in the net. One of the animals we found was a cased caddisfly larvae which had made its case entirely out of stones so it was well camouflaged. We then participated in a botany survey and learnt lots about the identification of plants, which helped to teach me about the wide range of tasks the wardens perform to maintain the site.

Towards the end of the week, we set moth traps and then had the task of identifying the species we’d found. This was really fascinating as there were lots of different types of moths, including poplars and elephant hawk moths. We then tried some wildlife photography, which encouraged us to take a closer look at our surroundings as there were lots of interesting insects and spiders around the reserve.

I thought the experience was incredible. It was really useful, and I learnt lots. It has encouraged me to pursue a career in conservation and the staff were very inspiring. I also got the opportunity to spend time with the wildlife, such as kingfishers and muntjacs, which meant we got to see the positive impact of the efforts of the Lackford Lakes team.