We were proud to learn that Amelia Corvin-Czarnodolski was recognised at the University of Leicester’s Get Experience Awards. Amelia was chosen over all of the university’s placement students across all fields, with the hard work and dedication during her time at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust winning her Placement Student of the Year.
For her placement, Amelia joined the GWCT’s PARTRIDGE team, getting heavily involved in the organisation’s Interreg-funded project as part of her degree in Biological Sciences with a Year in Industry.
Rebecca Leeman, Placements Project Manager at the university, was quick to sing Amelia’s praise. “For me it was Amelia’s dedication to making the most of the Placement through getting involved in many areas of the company, which we encourage students to do to allow them to gain a wide variety of new skills and experience.”, she noted. “As well as the fieldwork and analysis, Amelia wrote blogs and represented the organisation at the North Sea Region Conference 2022 and New Forest Show. Equally, her enthusiasm to get involved in unfamiliar areas of work shows her ability to utilise transferable skills (attention to detail, communication and time management) which are key for all Placement students and what we encourage students to think about as we help them prepare for their Year in Industry.”
Triscilla Laxman, Placements Project Coordinator, added “Considering the blogs she had written, the general desire to succeed and going above and beyond to represent the organisation was what won her the award.”
Amelia was away working on an internship in Italy when the awards were announced but was delighted with the news. “I’m honoured to receive this award and so grateful to everyone at the GWCT who made my experience so memorable and worthwhile”, she said. “It’s great to hear that I made such a positive impact during the year and contributed in a meaningful way to a very important project.”
Working on an international project, Amelia was able to travel to Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark, working with other stakeholders, informing farmers and giving talks. Working with other departments to further her skills, Amelia was able to undertake surveys for a number of species including water voles, hares, woodcock, and bumblebees, as well as call-back surveys for the main species of the project, the grey partridge.
While staying with the GWCT, Lancashire-based Amelia also volunteered for the Marine Conservation Society and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and still found time to take up bird ringing and further her passion for wildlife photography.
Remarkably, Amelia came to conservation quite late in her academic life. “I originally intended to study medicine and fell into conservation quite by accident, but now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else! My placement taught me so much, from field and ID skills to public speaking and working in an international team, the experience was invaluable.”
For those looking to follow in Amelia’s footsteps, the GWCT has recently opened applications for its 2023/24 placements. With opportunities to work in Applied Wildlife Recovery and Research, Data Science, Farmland Ecology, GIS and Predation, GIS and Wetlands, Lowland Game Research, the Trust’s Scottish Demonstration Farm, Scottish Lowland Research, Upland Research and Wetlands, students have until 8 January 2023 to apply. You can find out more here.
About the Project
PARTRIDGE is a project co-funded by the Interreg North Sea Region Programme which showcases how new and improved management solutions can improve biodiversity and ecosystem services by up to 30% by 2023 at 10 demonstration sites across the region.