Advice I would give is to ask questions. This placement is a brilliant opportunity for students to experience working in an office setting in the pharmaceutical industry. It is very different from laboratory-based jobs and therefore there is so much you can learn from the placement. Asking questions is so important to constantly learn something new, even if it is for something you would think is trivial because then it ensures you are carrying out your tasks to the best of your ability."

After an intensive selection process, I was successful in obtaining the placement I desired. My work placement in KEENAN and Alltech was an invaluable experience that bridged the gap between academic learning and real-world application. It offered me the unique opportunity to gain practical skills, industry knowledge and professional insights. The exposure not only enhanced my CV and LinkedIn profile but also built confidence, adaptability, create relationships within the agricultural industry and gave me a clearer understanding of my future career aspirations.

Most recently I have been given the opportunity to spend 3 months in Dubai with the Alltech and KEENAN team and 3 weeks in Canada. I could only have dreamt of these opportunities if I had not completed this degree and work placement. I would encourage anyone considering this degree to do it. The journey is about more than just finding a job but pursuing a career path. Take the time to explore different opportunities and learn from every experience, whether positive or challenging." 

My time on placement has given me a greater understanding of the renewables sector. It has allowed me to build my knowledge on areas that I wasn’t the most familiar with, for example, ROC trading and anaerobic digestion. The sector itself is very dynamic, constantly evolving to meet the net zero targets in Northern Ireland. My placement with Action Renewables has been great for my personal and professional development. It has taught me the importance of a strong, positive culture in the workplace. Working with the Large-Scale Team has also given me 
an insight into client management and has allowed me to grow in this space." 

A couple of key pieces of advice would be:

• Be extremely adaptable and get stuck in- say yes to everything!
• Be like a sponge- try to absorb as much information as possible while you’re on placement.
• A year goes by in a flash so don’t waste it!"

During my placement I operated a 8250 case IH combine with a 45ft macdon header, in addition to this I drove peterbelt trucks and a 380 case tractor with a 1300 bushel grain cart. I worked 7 days a week doing between 95-100 hours (weather dependent). The majority of my work was operating large scale machinery sometimes in a large crew or by myself. My special placement project was a questionnaire measuring customer satisfaction as we harvested crops for a number of farmers across America.

On ‘tour’ or event duty, I give tours to people and spread awareness of the threats to seals in Ireland, why we need to keep our seal population healthy and what everyone can do to help keep our marine life healthy. This has massively helped my people skills and confidence when speaking to people, putting my best foot forward and given me a more optimistic attitude towards conservation. If people are willing to learn about what threatens other life on earth, they can help to conserve it and spread awareness, which will make a difference in the long run. My photography skills have also improved as I take a lot of pictures for the centre. I’ve gotten better at working under pressure during my shifts manning the rescue hotline and coordinating rescues for seals which are at the other end of the country to get them to the centre for the care they need.

My placement in New Zealand was with the Department of Conservation, a branch of the government which is tasked with protecting the natural heritage and biodiversity of New Zealand, and maintaining campsites and hiking trails to ensure that people can safely enjoy and experience the nature and scenery that New Zealand has to offer.

I spent most of my time working in an office on a range of projects. I matched GPS coordinates to aerial photos taken of whales to track their activity sites, developed a Standard Operating Procedure for tagging and Microchipping sea lions and fur seals as part of conservation projects, developed a code of practice for safely handling bycatch of protected species on fishing boats to minimise mortality, and generally got to see the other side of conservation – the preventative measures.

What have your placement highlights been?

At Seal Rescue Ireland, my highlights are the amazing people I have met and worked with, and getting the opportunity to work with and handle wild animals safely and for their benefit. Getting to see the seals released back into the wild after I’ve helped to rehabilitate them is really rewarding.

My highlight from New Zealand was definitely getting to be involved with a population estimate study for the Hutton’s Shearwater – a critically endangered seabird which only nests in a specific mountain range on New Zealand’s South Island. I spent 2 nights catching and marking birds on the side of a snowy mountain, then 3 days out on boats counting the number of marked vs unmarked birds for a population estimate following the destruction of nesting areas during the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016.

The scenery in the mountains was unbelievable and while on the water I saw a southern right whale only a few metres from my boat, critically endangered Hector’s Dolphins swimming alongside us and all while helping to preserve an endemic species. I don’t take the opportunity for granted for a single second.

My plans for the future probably involve getting a Masters, and a lot more travelling. I want to see as much of the world as I can through my career, but I fell in love with New Zealand, so I won’t be surprised if I find myself back there permanently.

Your advice for current or prospective students hoping to study in the School of Biological Sciences? And thinking of undertaking placement?

Think about what you enjoy most in life and what you find most interesting. I went into marine biology because I am passionate about conserving the species which are threatened by human activity – I don’t expect to be a millionaire any time soon, but I get enough satisfaction from learning more about our oceans and feeling like I’m helping to protect some of the most interesting life forms on earth.

I don’t think most people are fully decided on what they want to do with their lives upon finishing secondary school, but it’s definitely worth thinking about it all.

Once you’re on your way to where you want to be, take every opportunity and experience that comes your way, because there’s always something for you to learn.

I also had the responsibility of working on various projects such as a Microalbumin project. This project involves me testing 3 different microalbumin verification reagents to compare the lots and decide based on test results which lot performs the best. After completing any study such as interferences or sensitivity studies, it is compulsory for a laboratory worksheet to be completed. This involves writing up a method, the lot numbers of any materials used, a results section and a discussion of the results followed by a conclusion. I also work on customer queries, which are problems or queries raised by customers that I carry out testing to solve the problem and report my findings back to the customer. I have gained excellent teamwork skills from working in my department and have also learnt valuable planning skills, particularly when carrying out project type work which involves a massive amount of work and is therefore vital for a well thought plan to be completed before executing a project.

What have your placement highlights been so far on placement? and what are you future plans after final year?

My main highlight from working on my placement, is the teamwork I have developed through the amazing R+D team I have worked for. All the people in my team were extremely helpful and encouraging and made me feel so welcomed to work with them. I developed excellent relationships with my co-workers and have learnt skills to work as part of a team that I will be able to use in the future. After final year, I am hoping to further my education through going on to do a masters course at QUB, hopefully a masters in ‘Molecular and Biotechnology’ which has caught my interest. I would also like to return to Randox after education as I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience working with this company and was made to feel very welcome from day one of my placement.

Any advice for current or prospective students hoping to study in the School of Biological Sciences? and thinking of undertaking placement?

I would advise students to research placements at an early stage to get an idea of what area or company they would like to work in. Over summers, if possible, to gain experience through volunteering for a company they wish to work for in order to get noticed and develop early relationships with company’s which will prove very useful in the future.

This involved going to hospitals around the country and ensuring that patients were receiving the correct treatment and all data had been captured correctly, safety measures were in place and safety data was captured, reviewing patient notes and training medical professionals.

I was able to develop a complete knowledge of how clinical trials are run within the pharmaceutical industry, as well as gaining a deeper insight into the industry as a whole. I was trained on medical terminology surrounding clinical trials, and I am now proficient in systems such as Veeva, CPAC and Spectrum. I also managed to develop my use of Microsoft packages and presentation development. In terms of soft skills, the placement was invaluable for the improvement of my networking skills, time management, project management and presentation skills.

What have your placement highlights been so far on placement? and what are you future plans after final year?

One of my major highlights from the placement was being able to manage various projects; I had the opportunity to develop an app which showed all the hospitals used by MSD in the UK and Ireland and various information about the sites. I was also a member of MSD’s Diversity and Inclusion group, and I had the great pleasure to run site-wide internal activities and was involved in the organisation of MSD’s first time walking in the London Pride Parade.

At the moment I am planning to go on to the integrated MSc Course in Microbiology. From there, I hope to either go back into clinical research with the aim of becoming a Research Associate, or go on to do a PhD and work in research/as a university lecturer.

Any advice for current or prospective students hoping to study in the School of Biological Sciences? and thinking of undertaking placement?

I would strongly suggest anyone to come to QUB to study at the School of Biological Sciences. The wide variety of course content, high quality of student support, and opportunities for various activities and progression makes for an excellent student experience.

I would really advise anyone in university to undertake a placement. Not only does a placement help with future career prospects and stands out on a CV, it helps to build an understanding of what future career paths may or may not be for you. Personally, I think it was invaluable for me to improve on many soft skills such as presentation skills, confidence in and out of the workplace, and networking skills.

The rest of the week was spent in the office. When I received the lab results for each grass sample, I added the details onto my spreadsheets and plotted graphs so I could analyse the trends in grazing quality throughout the season. I then produced weekly GrassWatch reports with average values and trends, which would be uploaded to social media and emailed to relevant farmers, industry representatives and members of the Trouw team.

I also had the opportunity to write three articles for the Farming Life, with two detailing the GrassWatch trends and one on the importance of monitoring the protein and energy balance of grazed grass. This was a great achievement, especially as I had my work published in a popular newspaper!

On several occasions, I was involved in working with other members of the Trouw team on various projects and it was great to learn how different teams can collaborate and bring information together. 

Highlights and Benefits of Placement?

I had many highlights while on placement. Firstly, I learned a lot – from grass quality and how it affects milk production/quality, to gaining some experience of working in a large company. I also learned more about working in a team, keeping information organised and meeting deadlines. Finally, I learned about the growing world population and how food production must increase. Through effective animal nutrition, we can work towards making food production more efficient and sustainable. I hoped that following placement I would be able to gain employment in a similar position.

Advice to Future Students?

Although studying for any scientific university degree involves learning lots of information, my advice would be to try to understand how you could apply the information you’ve learned to ‘real world’ issues e.g. food production, antimicrobial resistance. I firmly believe that the collaborative nature of science will be a key contributor to working towards developing and implementing strategies to address them. 

I would also highly recommend undertaking a placement. I am really glad I had that opportunity as I learned a lot from it and gained great experience, which was very helpful when I came to write my CV. It also stood by me during job applications and interview as I was able to talk about my Trouw experience and as a result, I obtained a full-time post with them!

I learnt that having a good team around you with everyone knowing what roles they have is vital for efficient working, especially in the conditions we were subjected to.

I have developed my data collection and communication skills during this placement.

The best part of my placement at Harnas was working hands on with large carnivores such as lions, leopards and cheetahs. This line of work is only really seen on television by people from Northern Ireland, so to be actually there carrying out the work was truly special.

We also carried out lab work such as dissections where we took stomach content and removed otoliths for future use. The paper copy of any data sheets is typed up on excel and stored electronically and the data is then analysed. Once the data is analysed, we write up what we have found in a report comparing the results to previous years and discussing any potential improvements that could be made that is then published on the Loughs Agency website.

My favourite weeks at SPOT where when I carried out night work. We walked the beach every 10 minutes looking for turtles and turtle tracks. When we find a track, we use the characteristics of the track to identify the turtle species. We sit behind the turtle observing and recording their behaviour. When the turtle begins to lay we mark out where the nest is so we can cover it with a cage when the turtle re-enters the water to protect her eggs from predation from foxes and stray dogs. We then check the turtle for any tags and measure the turtle’s carapace length and width and note her scute pattern and note any abnormalities. Each nest is given an individual nest tag and a temperature data logger is placed in the nest. We take a small skin sample from the turtles shoulder to use for genetics and stable isotope analysis and the turtle is given any tags it did not previously have.

What have your placement highlights been so far on placement

The highlight of my placement has by far been getting to work hands on with these animals. Both my placements allowed me to get involved in every aspect of my placement including physically working with the animals themselves. I got to handle fish to measure their weight and length as well as take scale samples from the fish for aging. When working with the turtles I got to take length and width measurements as well as insert tag into their shoulder as a form of identification for each turtle , as well as take skin samples for genetics and stable isotope testing and attaching a metal flipper tag to the turtles mainly for use of fishermen who may catch turtles in fishing nets. Getting to work so closely with these animals and carrying out work and research that helps to protect and conserve these animals has been very rewarding. In the future I would like to pursue a career in a similar field that I carried out my placement in.

My advice to students considering applying for work placement is DO IT! Aside from how it will be beneficial when applying for jobs after university, it honestly has been just so enjoyable! There are very few days that placement has felt like “work” because it has been so much fun, it has completely made me fall in love with my degree and verified that this is what I want my future career to be. I have gain so much experience and knowledge that I don’t think I would be able to gain during my academic experience alone. Working in industry really opens up your eyes to the real world of science. Take advantage of the opportunities out there, local and abroad because you will not regret it. I can’t thank everyone from the Loughs Agency and SPOT enough, it has been a blast!