I’m Bethany, a fourth year undergraduate in the School of Geosciences, studying for a BSc Hons in Ecological and Environmental Sciences. In my spare time I enjoy sport, and am a member of the university’s triathlon club, and rowing club. I also enjoy going for walks in nature, and taking photos of the scenery, plants, animals, and fungi I encounter. You can check out my photos on Instagram (@bethanyswildlife).

I decided to choose the GOE course as a module, mostly because I was dissatisfied with the amount of information I was taught about the environment whilst at school! I grew up in rural Northumberland, and had a great love of nature and the outdoors whilst I was young. However, I feel like this interest was not nurtured sufficiently during my time at school, particularly whilst I was at high school. Although this didn’t end up affecting my decision to go on to study the natural world at university, I feel passionately that much more could be done to aid and encourage young people to engage with nature and ecology. This interest was fuelled further when, last summer, I volunteered with the British Ecological Society (BES) in a digital exhibition project group, and developed a series of postcard resources to encourage young people to ‘connect with nature’. Through the GOE course, I hope to put some of the skills I learnt whilst volunteering with the BES into practice, and develop new skills and techniques to help capture young people’s interest in the natural world.