Virtual Conservation Insight Scheme Review

A lot of talks, all of which were interesting, relevant and engaging. We had the opportunity to ask speakers questions after their lectures which was valuable for adding extra insight. The days started with an introduction where we could have our cameras on and see other students which was nice as it could feel a bit odd to be doing a placement from my bedroom! There were a breakout, workshop, and discussion in addition to the talks.

Whilst it is difficult to learn skills entirely online, I definitely took notes on skills I want to gain/develop over the rest of my university course before beginning my professional career. The group project allowed me to refine my teamworking skills, and learn about social media campaigns - an understanding of which is beneficial to every modern workplace so I am sure that knowledge will be valuable in the future. There were talks on career planning and skills which were definitely useful.

Really insightful scheme, I learned a lot about roles I didn't even know existed before, which was really nice. Each speaker was from a different area of conservation, and every one had something valuable to add. It was inspiring to see how many different jobs there are in something which seems so niche, or at least is rarely talked about by school careers advisors! It definitely reaffirmed my desire to work as a conservationist in some form!

Everyone was really friendly! Of course, it's difficult to get a real feel for a place when you're just online and rarely speak to anyone outside of a chat box, but it still seemed welcoming. Group work with others on the scheme was fun and chatty. The three people from BCP leading the scheme were all nice and seemed to get on really well with one another. I think it would be a wonderful place to work.

I really enjoyed the week, it was nice to have a properly structured week after a lot of online university work. I looked forward to every talk and felt like I had got a lot out of each day when they ended. It was great getting to ask questions to speakers and learn about many people's stories. Despite just being online, I was kinda sad when the week ended, as I loved it all so much.

Yes

This is really hard to answer considering the fact that this scheme is very unlikely to be online when it runs again next year. I would say in your application talk about personal connections to conservation and show your passion! And I imagine it will be good fun in whichever format it is delivered, so look forward to it.