Ask any student who is studying for a degree and they will tell you that a year of paid work experience really does provide them with valuable practical experience to take into their final year of academia.
As former students, the RammSanderson Director team really appreciates the learning experiences that can be gained by offering these opportunities to young people considering a career in the agriculture or rural sectors. We also value the many benefits employing a placement student can have on a young but rapidly growing business like RammSanderson. This is why we are proud to have been able to offer these learning opportunities for the last four years and taken year long paid student placements from Nottingham Trent and Harper Adams universities.
In 2017-18, Alex Pelton who was a student at Harper Adams University in Newport, Shropshire joined us on a placement and has returned to the team as a full time employee Graduate Ecologist following completion of his degree. In 2018-19 we welcomed Chloe Newbury from Nottingham Trent University who leaves this week to complete her final year of studies, and we have already set on our 2019-20 student, Alex Bull who is also from Harper Adams.
In her last week during her placement, Chloe looks back at her time: “I’ve had a great year at RammSanderson and I’ve learnt so much. A year ago I wouldn’t have been able to ID bat species by call, or know how to go about arranging or conducting a bat survey. I’ve seen great crested newts which I never thought I’d see and I’ve built up basic skills in plant identification. I think one of the best things is that everyone is always happy to help you learn.
It has also encouraged me to do things I didn’t think I was capable of such as site supervision and I’ve surprised myself. My Placement at RammSanderson has definitely broadened my knowledge of wildlife and has given me a good base to work towards gaining protected species licenses. Most of all, I’ve had fun.”
Both Nottingham Trent and Harper Adams excel in the provision of education for the next generation of specialists who will tackle challenges related to the future development of our planet’s food production, processing, animal sciences, engineering and land management. we firmly believe in making strong ties with our local Univeirsities and have spoken at careers fares in Nottingham, Nottingham Trent, sheffield , Sheffield Hallam, Harper Adams, Derby and Liverpool Universities and always welcome keen and enthusiastic graduates.
As ecological, habitat, flood risk and arboriculture consultants, we fully understand that we have a responsibility to protect our planet and that this must be achieved by helping businesses to develop natural spaces in a sustainable manner. By bringing students into our business they gain first-hand experience of how delicate this balance can be and learn practical ways as to how this can be achieved in a manner with is both empathetic to nature as well as the commercial need to provide houses for people to live and alternative income streams for farmers and landowners.