Since 2002, we’ve been inspiring and educating the next generation of conservationists by offering a number of placement opportunities to university students.
Every year we welcome a new cohort of placement students, all eager to learn the skills and knowledge required to have a positive impact on wildlife, in a number of different ways. Despite the limitations that COVID-19 has caused, we’re delighted to still be offering a number of places on our exclusive placement programme to students from different universities across the country.
With placements available across a variety of departments within our conservation and science teams, they’ll have a truly unique, up close and personal experience working with our scientists at the zoo. Utilizing ground-breaking technologies to learn about what it takes to be a great conservationist, this is an incredible opportunity.
Our Conservation and Science placement students are valuable members of our team, during their placement they have the opportunity to conduct a range of studies with us and experience what zoo science really is. The students benefit from having a zoo supervisor and mentor, whilst they develop scientifically rigorous and important projects at the zoo, and wider conservation work. We work with a vast number of universities from around the country and see this placement programme as important to our core mission of Preventing Extinction, we are literally training the next generation of conservation scientists.
Liz Webb, Conservation Training Academy Manager at the zoo
We caught up with our new group of students to find out more about what they’ll be working on, why they picked Chester Zoo and what they’re most excited about…
“Chester Zoo has played a big part in developing my love and appreciation for the natural world – being from Liverpool and therefore living nearby I have frequently visited the Zoo over the years! I’m most excited to develop not only confidence in a lab setting, but professional lab skills that would not be available to me in a University setting.”
– Danielle Logan, BSc (Hons) Zoology, Liverpool John Moores University
“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to work and experience life in such a well renowned zoo. It offers me the chance to further my interest of animal behaviour, which has fascinated me from childhood, across the broad range of species that the zoo houses. It also provides me with the invaluable opportunity to further my future career through learning from everyone at Chester Zoo.”
-Emma McKinney, BSc Zoology, Queens University Belfast
“In the future I want to work in conservation. I am very passionate about the welfare of the planet, particularly animals, and would like to make a difference towards improving wildlife health and preventing extinction. Chester Zoo is an organisation with a great reputation, where I feel I am going to learn a lot, not only about animal behaviour and welfare, but working in a successful organisation as a whole.”
-Eve Bond, BSc (Hons) Zoology, Queen’s University Belfast
“Chester Zoo has an expressed commitment to preventing extinction, which is supported by its pioneering conservation projects both in and ex-situ, which are wide and varied. I am really looking forward to working on various projects within the zoo, such as exploring peoples ‘connectedness to nature’ and the impact it has on their outlook on conservation.”
-Lucy Settle, BSc (Hons) Animal Biology, Nottingham Trent University
“My main supervisors at the zoo are the ‘lab whizz’ Becky Mogey, the ‘science guy’ John O’Hanlon and the super smart Dr Katie Edwards. Arguably, I am on the best course at Chester Zoo, being part of the Science Team and doing a combination of two research placements – wildlife physiology and animal nutrition. One of the many reasons that I chose Chester Zoo was because it has the only laboratory dedicated to studying wildlife endocrinology in the UK, thus I knew that I would be getting a once-in-a-lifetime experience doing my science internship here.”
-Morwenna Hope, BSc (Hons) Zoology, University of Exeter
“My year at Chester Zoo will be spent working closely with the site ecologist focusing on the native wildlife on the zoo land holding. My main project will involve using camera traps and field signs to monitor the established badger clan, determining the patterns of use within a 12 month cycle. I’m excited to work at Chester Zoo because of the reputation that it has gained from its excellent conservation projects, education programmes and animal welfare.”
-Caitlin Cross, BSc (Hons) Wildlife and Practical Conservation, University of Salford
Looking for an industrial placement that you’ll never forget?
We have four opportunities available which covers a range of conservation and science departments.
OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS WORK IN SIX REGIONS AROUND THE GLOBE – REPRESENTING SOME OF THE PLANET’S MOST BIODIVERSE HABITATS. Discover more about our SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION work.