Lucy
O'Reilly

Why did you choose to study at NTU?

I chose NTU due to the variation in modules offered by the Zoo Biology course. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to specialise in when I began university, but this specific course offered the potential to explore multiple routes such as animal behaviour, conservation, or nutrition. I loved the community feel of the Brackenhurst Campus on my open day and the Animal Unit that was on site. I would also be lying if I said I didn’t want to live in Nottingham for the university nightlife!

What did you learn – both inside and outside of lectures?

Within my lectures, I learnt the importance of independent study and critical thinking – this prepared me for my work life now and how to work things out for myself. I also learnt what I was and wasn’t interested in, which has helped me to mould my career path into one that I am passionate about. I opted for a placement year as part of my course and this is one of the best things I did. I went to Costa Rica and worked in wildlife rehabilitation centres, as well as doing some research on post-release monitoring of hand reared Howler Monkeys. I learnt so much here and really feel like this changed my perspective on life, my attitude towards work, and knowledge that I still apply to my job to this day.

Did you get involved in any placements, work experience or volunteering as part of your course? If so, what company did you do it got, what was your role/responsibilities and what did you achieve?

I did a placement year in my third year. I travelled to Costa Rica and volunteered in a wildlife rescue centre as well as completing a research project on post-release monitoring of hand-reared Howler Monkeys. I was only meant to be here for 3 months but ended up staying for 9 and was promoted to Junior Manager after 3 months too. It was great to get hands-on experience caring for animals as well as improving my research skills. It was also amazing to meet so many people from around the world who all had the same goal of conserving wildlife.

Would you recommend completing a placement and why?

I definitely would recommend completing a placement year as from experience, employers look for candidates that have a level of practical experience. I don’t think I’d have the job I do now without this experience. It also allowed me to explore working with different species and understanding what I am and aren’t interested in so I could mould my career in the way that I wanted. I couldn’t recommend doing a placement year enough especially in the conservation field of work.

What have you been up to since graduating?

After I graduated, I worked at an animal management college as an Animal Welfare Technician for about a year which allowed me to work with a number of species and helped me to decide what I was most interested in. The practical experience that I gained during my placement year at NTU really helped me to be offered this job as they wanted someone with practical experience.

For the past 9 months, I have been working as an Assistant Conservation Grazing Officer at Lancashire Wildlife Trust which I absolutely love. I am also doing part time studying for an MSc in Animal Behaviour at Manchester Metropolitan University.

What does your current day involve?

This is a really hard question to answer as I have huge variation within my role. I am very lucky as this job is a new role within the organisation so I have been encouraged to make the role what I want it to be. My job involves the management of 60+ volunteers across Lancashire who check the animals on 10+ sites for us. Between me and my manager we have around 200 livestock animals to look after, which deliver conservation grazing on a number of reserves both internally within my organisation and for external landowners. It is a really important project within the trust and can positively impact a variation of both landscapes and species. Animal husbandry, welfare and legislation; volunteer training and development; and liaising and creating relationships with landowners and reserve officers to ensure high standards of welfare and a positive conservation impact are achieved. Soon I will be getting my own working Border Collie to help me in my job so training a dog to work on sheep will then take up a big chunk of my day! Working with animals is everchanging and you have to be ready to throw all of your plans for the work day out of the window at any moment if there was an emergency with one of the animals. I recently had to hand rear two orphaned lambs for a month at my house! It’s a challenging role but I really enjoy it and I am learning something every day.

What attracted you to this field?

I have always known I want to work with animals, and to be able to do this in a setting where I feel like I am making a really big difference to my corner of the world from a conservation perspective is very important to me. I love being outside and can’t imagine working from a desk every day.

What have been the highlights and biggest challenges of your career so far?

I am probably going through one of the biggest challenges of my career currently, as I am trying to balance studying for my MSc with a full time job that is very demanding. I just keep having to remind myself why I am doing what I’m doing and that the end result will be worth it.

My highlight is probably being offered my current role – I worked really hard to be where I am and it is nice to see it has been recognised by employers. I genuinely enjoy going to work every day and that is the most important thing I could ask for in my career.

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to progress in my current role and move up within my organisation in the near future. I am also doing my MSc dissertation currently which involves the cattle that I work with and the use of NoFence technology. I would like to publish this research, share my work at conferences and potentially in the future I would like to do a PhD (but I probably need a year off from education first!)

If you had a time machine, what would you go back and tell yourself at NTU?

I would want to encourage myself to take more networking opportunities as I now know how important this skill is. And to utilise my lecturers more as they are there to help – I did do this in my final year a lot more and I got much better grades.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to share with our student and alumni community?

If you have the option to do a placement year definitely do it!