Transcript of RAU Environment Courses Video

I'm so glad I came to the RAU because most of my course has been outside and for me that is such a big thing. Honestly it's such an amazing place and such an amazing campus, it's absolutely beautiful here.

I like the fact that it's a very small university and I quite like the close-knitness that that gives.

I'm from London myself so the thought of getting out of the city and being more rural definitely appealed to me.

The wildlife environment and countryside courses entail just that, at a blend of academic applied and practical. What we want students to be able to do by the end of these courses is secure employment in relevant organizations and businesses. We really do value the land we have around, the brilliant campus that we have for field work.

Outside jobs get integrated all the time and we have people come in and talk to us about their job who are alumni, half of them.

It's a good mix, it's classroom based stuff but quite often then going out and seeing examples or doing.

What we're trying to do with the programs as well is to try and link in the learning that the students are doing with actual applied research work that's got relevance in the real world.

I'm doing a research project at the moment on the phenology of nectar in the blackthorn hedgerows around the RAU.

I have looked at the effect of different bracken management methods.

I'm currently doing a research project on reptiles to see whether a hibernacula that we installed has actually expanded the population.

There's also strong vocational elements where we blend our academic knowledge and understanding with the practical work.

I actually laid that hedge that we were looking at before a few weeks back as part of our training course. It's really really enjoyable and you know kind of the processes that happen to get things done.

A lot of employment and would-be employers look for practical experience, which gives us the edge because we've been out and we've practiced it.