A Burnham-On-Sea animal conservation student has just returned from a month in Madagascar working on a wildlife study.
Megan Lee, 22, went on the trip as part of her second year of an Animal Conservation Foundation Degree offered by Bridgwater College in partnership with Oxford Brookes University.
Megan lived for a month on the beach camp on Nosy Be island, surrounded by mangroves and rainforest, surveying birds, reptiles and lemurs.
Megan told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It offered the perfect setting to see Madagascar’s fish eagles, different species of lemur, countless lizard species and turtles, and the surrounding ocean made for some awesome snorkelling.”
“Words cannot adequately describe this amazing country; the wildlife, the locals, the culture and the environment. Going abroad for work experience was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and has confirmed in my mind that I have chosen the right degree and career path for me.”
The island’s habitats are slowly being degraded due to logging and the establishment of vanilla plantations and the surveys were aimed at discovering the impact of this on the wildlife population.
Kayleigh Liddell, Megan’s tutor, added: “The work-based learning serves as an opportunity to create employment links and it is often through these placements that students gain future employment. Next year will see the first BSc (top-up) in Animal Conservation at Bridgwater College in association with Oxford Brookes, which means that students will be able to convert their Foundation Degree into a full Honours Degree by spending a further year studying at the College.”
She used the trip to complete her work-based learning unit, which is designed to equip students with employability skills and enable them to progress in their careers.
