Final thoughts – COURSE IMPACT ASSESSMENT

COURSE IMPACT ASSESSMENT

“How the Seminars have influenced my Career Plans“

Over all I am very happy I took this module. I have taken many like it before but each time I feel I learn a little more useful tips and information along the way. The CV was the most beneficial to me yet, finally helping me to produce a CV and cover letter worthy of a science-based position. Finance is still a little vague for me but again, Ive learned a little more and I definitely know it will crop up somewhere in the future no doubt. The careers cafe was a good experience as I feel hearing about the career paths of others always instills a little confidence in me to do/that I can do the same.

I admit like many others that I wouldn’t attend as many seminars if I didn’t have to write about them, which is odd as I love hearing about current research from other academics. Hearing others speak about their work has reinforced my passion to become a researcher (specifically following seabirds/pollution/MPA designation and implementation) and I intend to take a master’s degree soon to further this and gain better postgraduate research skills. The workshops have also reinforced my self-confidence in that I can produce pieces of good writing and interview well.

Aprils comments

http://bsue22.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/restoring-britains-lowland-raised-bogs-why-is-it-so-important/comment-page-1/#comment-34

I didn’t attend this talk and don’t have any particular interests in working with wetlands in the future but i’m so glad there are talks like this as it makes you more appreciative of the positives of these areas and how they are home to so much diverse wildlife that you don’t consider unless you work with these ares yourself personally. It is evidently also so important for the health of cycles/pollution mitigation to also keep them well maintained. I admit the field work looks like it would be fun though!

http://lovejuice3000.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/an-opinion-on-human-wildlife-conflicts-following-a-seminar-on-trophy-hunting/comment-page-1/#comment-14

Ive heard of trophy hunting before but thought it was not that apparent anymore, more poaching than trophy hunting. Both are shocking and I don’t agree with but its interesting to read from your post that completely eradicating the practice is not thought of as a good thing? I suppose like you say, it is very complex involving locals and many other factors that need to be considered and maybe a reduction is happy medium as apposed to complete abolition.

How knowledge of a business plan may aid my future career

The latest assignment was to write a four page essay as to how knowledge of a business plan many aid me in my future career. I have to admit I was dreading it having now done two modules involving how to write a business plan the the importance of business knowledge and still feeling I know nothing about business and still doubting it will be of relevance to me.

I still feel the same.

I do appreciate that little bit more each time, how useful business skills can be in any career but the point is, I personally don’t want to start a business. As a future researcher (hopefully) the most useful part to me was realizing how essential it is to independently secure funds for yours or your departments/institutes future projects. I’m sure you’ve all heard your supervisors constantly expressing how stressed they are as they’re currently writing a grant? And that is why I would of really have liked to have focused specifically on this. I have so many questions about how and who teaches Dr’s to write grants, more so than wanting to know how to start a business.

I understand why the module has this element, as money matters are all similar at the end of the day and it did get me thinking about if I was to apply for a research grant; how much money would I need? where would it come from? etc but considering everyone has the opportunity to become a future Dr or professor, I think we should have the option to study grants in more detail as they feature a lot in the role of a research scientist.

Snakebite in India – Gerry Martin, 25th March, 2014

This talk was held by Gerry Martin leader of the Gerry Martin Project which states there is a link between wildlife enthusiasts and supporters, government, conservationists and researchers (‘we are not activists; we are a platform) and has the main goal of; creating sustainable and inclusive conservation solutions in India. (http://gerrymartin.in/current-focus/)

He started by telling us that there is a very big problem in India with snakebites; 40-50,000 people die per year, which seemingly goes noticed by the government!  Those that survive often suffer a permanent loss of life function in some form or other. 

The most problematic species are as follows;

• Russells viper (Daboia russelii)–  causes necrosis, is well camouflaged, has vast venom variation and is expensive to treat
• Saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) – locally abundant, not as potent as the above, is an ambush predator
• Spectacled cobra (Naja naja) – thrives around humans and is easy to treat
• Common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) – common to rural areas, no visible symptoms, bites exclusively at night, easy to treat
• Other recent species include: seasnakes; other Kraits; pit vipers, and monocled cobras.

Snakebite deaths are not a reportable occurrence so many go unrecorded.There is a social stigma attached to being bitten along with ignorance, a complete lack of understanding, a lack of resources and the fact that India is so heavily populated. Medical practice is low standard with many practices not being equipped with any sterile equipment or the correct anti-venom. For rural individuals it may take 4-5 hours to reach the nearest help.Despite high mortality, there is at present only one major legal anti-venom production company.

The main solutions so far to combat bite numbers are;

• To understand where bites occur, check for potency of venoms per area and find how effective anti-venoms would be
• Determine species distribution
• To investigate further how venoms are changing
• To instill education and awareness
• To better train forest workers and staff and medical staff in rural areas on how to deal with bites
• To focus on the Russells viper in particular

I agree completely with current solutions, it makes sense (due to the size of India) to first find what species occur where and their densities. I think it should be then made law to report bites so that a proper comprehensive database can be made as to how many bites occur per region and the identity of the snake. Anti-venoms can then be distributed where they are most necessary and it can be seen year on year whether deaths are declining. If no database is made then it will be guess work as to whether the anti-venoms are working or not.

Education does seem essential, for example, Gerry mentioned that older citizens simply dealt with snakes calmly whereas younger generations seem to be less able to deal with snake encounters and have less tolerance. There is also a tendency to visit witch doctors rather than seek proper medical help. Education on dangerous snakes themselves will also enable citizens to better describe and report bites as some have been known to describe a viper when actually reporting an earthworm!

Healthcare must also be improved as counterfeit products or non-sterile equipment will surely not help anyone. It also needs to become more accessible to poorer regions, as Gerry joked about one bite victim ‘if the bite doesn’t kill her then the medical bill will’.

Gerry said lastly that he wished to help encourage the people of India to see that wildlife is much more profitable alive than dead. I really hope he succeeds on behalf of the poor people who die of a simple bite whilst going about their daily life and for the wildlife also going about theirs.

 

 

 

 

March’s monthly comments

http://louisew1992.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/building-a-one-planet-future-eu-scenario-quantification-to-2050/comment-page-1/#comment-9

I’m glad I wasn’t the only one struggling! although I do appreciated how clever the modelling is and the level of research that has gone into it, all the parameters and such needed to make the accurate predictions for each scenario is immense. Just a lot of content to get through in one hour, doesn’t do the work justice. I hope the globe heads down the ‘kind and caring’ route but I agree 100% that governments are greedy, every day people are greedy, we all want nice things and we demand and consume. I would happily give it all up and cut back if I thought I could help. But although I don’t want to underestimate all people, I think in the end, most people wont make the effort on an individual effort to change. Who knows how the planet will end up? probably like something off of WALL.E

 

http://jameshaden.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/seminar-lets-all-save-the-lesser-of-two-evils/
I really enjoyed this post! the point after all is to speak YOUR opinion, scientific fact is fact but that doesn’t always mean you have to agree, so high five to you. I didn’t attend this talk and I have no evidence to support me so I wont bother forming an opinion for either side, but whether greys are or are not more of a pest, you are right in saying that the argument is always often one sided. I admit I myself have always pitied and been in favour of the reds because I have always heard how the greys basically came over and screwed everything up for them. And so yes, your point about red bias is very true.

‘Building a one planet future’ by Stuart Bond GIFT Manager, 28 February 2014

This talk was held by Stuart Bond of Bangor University, the manager of the ‘Green Innovation Future Technologies Project’ (GIFT) http://giftnetworkproject.eu/?page_id=310 which has the aims of

• Encouraging small or medium enterprise businesses within the INTERREG regions of Ireland and Wales and help to grow a sustainable Green Economy.
• Members will be able to network and collaborate with other businesses, industry experts (public and private sector) and social enterprises with a view to sharing experiences and creating new opportunities.
• To promote sustainable development in the areas of the Green Economy, Green Tourism, Waste Management and Green Technology.

The purpose of this talk was to address the questions of can we create a future planet where people and nature thrive together? At this point we were shown a quote by Einstein ‘imagination is more important than knowledge’. and Stuart explained that in order to begin to think about the future it is often best to use our imagination, as this will ultimately get us to where we want to be. I like this thought and thought it very appropriate when considering the future.

It becomes quite complicated from here as there are lots of parameters and complex modelling so I will try my best to convey what I can from my notes in an understandable manner.

Firstly purposes must be clarified – why do this exercise?, then the foundations laid, then the narratives and policies developed and lastly the scenarios may be modelled.  

 

There are 3 core indicators: carbon, water, and ecological footprints and these are applied at the centre of the 4 different scenarios.

Senario 1: people become more environmentally responsible for and socially caring, there are carbon taxes, minimum wages throughout, technology is flexible, competition is replaced with co-operation and GMO food imports are banned.

Senario 2: there is a strong emphasis on trading with environmentally friendly countries with low footprints

Senario 3: the population is divided into rich and poor, society and the population is government controlled, much more new technology, increased petrol taxes and a big emphasis on stakeholder profits

Senario 4: there is more collaboration than competition,, wider community, social and ethical values, a minimum wage throughout,  organic farming, no ineffective appliances produced, fuel taxes and a GMO import ban.

So far senarios 1 and 4 sounded best to me been much more eco-friendly and thoughtful and 3 the worst, the greediest type of planet we could end up with.

At this point we were told that scenario 1 would indeed yield the best results and an improved planet with lower production, consumption and footprints. But even this scenario and model still didn’t produce a planet by 2050 that will be energy efficient with a one planet economy.

It is easy to make bigger but more efficient products, from cars to fridges, but if people simply buy more of them and drive them twice as far than the positives gained from the product begin to equal the negatives. Thus in future it is particularly important to consider both production and consumption if we wish to reduce footprints.

The take home message was that the best accurate and researched data must be used in models in order to gain the best results. In addition to this, it is important to influence the hearts and minds of policy makers in order for them to make the best rational decisions in future.

At present, it seems the planet cannot be made perfect but it can be made better, and even more so if at the individual level, people make efforts to improve the planet and make it more sustainable.  

 

 

 

Dragons Den Workshop, Monday 17th February

I haven’t thought about starting my own business before seriously, although when I think of a good invention I always joke about it and how I could start one or go on Dragons Den.

I have been told many times before and by many different lecturers that I will one day require business skills even if I don’t realise this now. They explained that it would probably be in the form of writing grants for research projects or grants for the funding of other random reasons that my employeers may need and ask me to do. Many of my lecturers have mentioned during lessons that they are busy writing grants so I can see that it is true, that if I wish to continue into the field of research zoology, then I will probably need to have a better knowledge of business.

Because of this, I was quite looking forward to the task.
The things of most use I learnt from this task were:

• How hard it is to strike up an initial business (whether new or pre exisiting) and having a good enough plan to get it up and going and actually feasible
• How hard it actually would be to think of something original so you can fill a unique niche
• How your idea for a business or product can actually be quite unpractical and ‘weak’ even though you think it sounds amazing at the beginning
• How you need to constantly have back up plans and other options for every idea you have at evey stage of the planning
• and lastly, how thoroughly you need to plan every stage in detail and keep track of figures because ultimatly its all about the money and you need to be thinking of this even before you begin planning

I found the task very informative but starting my business is still something I am not planning in the future and most likely will not.

Allthough I am glad I had chance to participate in this task, I would have liked 2 workshops. In addition to this one, I would have liked to have been given a typicall senario of a scientist asked to apply for research funding and how to go about this. This is because for me personally, I wish to go into research and so if I am ever going to need to have any involvement with anything money-related in my career than it will most likely be because I have to write a funding grant.

Maybe this is something you are taught in more detail if you do a higher degree such as an MSc? But that is what I also would have liked.

 

 

Just to reiterate my opinion on a previous post regarding zoo’s…………..

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/danish-zoo-outrage-giraffe-marius

There he was munching away with no idea of what was coming to him 😦

And I’m still supposed to believe zoo’s have wild animals best interests at heart when they do this to one of their own animals?!

May not have been the same zoo in question that I wrote about but never the less a zoo, and European. If this was a surplus human been killed it would be considered evil and an absolute outrage, but because they give money to conservation and people will forget about this death in time, I guess that makes it ok…….what a joke

The fact the animal was butchered into pieces in front of children, as can be seen in news pictures, is particularly disturbing, bizarre and macabre. Was it some sort of spectator sport?! More importantly is that now going to be those children’s idea of what a zoo is, a place to watch one of its animals been feed to the others. I cant see any educational value in this situation, other than how zoo’s can pick and choose when they want to help animals and when to just dispose of them.

The zoo’s excuse doesn’t wash with me; they say its their duty to prevent inbreeding. How about making it your duty to think more carefully before you breed too many of these poor sod’s.

This months comments

http://bsue22.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/why-are-cvs-so-important-2/comment-page-1/#comment-13

Took me a while to find someone who had wrote a CV post!
I was the same and hadn’t updated mine for so long, mostly because since leaving my job before I started uni 5 years ago, I haven’t applied for any jobs since. All my previous CV’s were for retail so this exercise was really useful and I have a decent CV to hand now. Shocking to think that if I hadn’t got templates and advice from this module, id leave this year and still be none the wiser and be using a terrible CV.

http://zoologygeek.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/its-soon-time-to-face-the-big-wide-world-help/#comments

Firstly, I LOVE your new blog banner and design!
I agree with you, found this task very useful too and I am also using my new CV and cover letter (now I have the right templates) for various jobs. I’ve got one interview so far, good luck with yours 🙂

Creating a Curiculum Vitae and Cover letter

This exercise has been the most beneficial to me yet. I have participated in many personal development modules before, but I have only ever been told briefly about creating a CV and cover letter and have not been asked to create one for marking by a professional. As a result I had no idea until now as to which template is most appropriate for a science-based vacancy and I have always gone on-line for basic templates and chosen the one which had the most fancy and artistic lay out (which is obviously perhaps not the best design for this field of work) as I believed this would attract a more appreciative viewing by the reader.

For this task, I had to find a desirable job (British Antarctic Survey Zoological Field Assistant) and tailor a complementary CV and cover letter. Due to now having been given a wealth of appropriate templates and good detailed guidance on the content order and how long each section should be; I have now created for the first time, an up to date CV that I am happy with and have based it on practical skills as these are my strengths , although I can change this theme to another set of specific skills if I need to tailor the CV more to another type of job. I can now also do the same for a personal statement/cover letter, which I didn’t know how to set out and compose either.Its nice to know I have these to hand now and I have piece of mind knowing they are of an appropriate lay out. In fact, my new CV was put to the test recently with regards to a science-based internship and has landed me an interview. Could be coincidence, could be not, but either way, happy days.