I’ve always had a strong connection with nature. However, I do worry about the effects of urbanisation, technology, and social media on the human-nature connection. Having experienced the benefits of nature connectedness myself, I am very passionate about advocating the importance of this for our mental and physical wellbeing.

My main interests/hobbies

• The science of climate change and its environmental and social effects
• Medicinal properties of plants
• Wildlife photography
• Vegan baking
• Walking
   

What I’ve been up to

After six weeks of the internship, I cannot believe how much I have already experienced. If you have read our other interns’ blog posts, you’ll see we have all been absorbed in getting to know our roles, as well as each other. We’ve all been busy bees, so am looking forward to finding out what everyone’s been up to in our next catch up!

So far, I have mostly been helping with the Wild Tots sessions in Holywells Park. Since working regularly with the toddlers, I notice myself feeling happier. In these sessions we play mud kitchen, swing in hammocks, search for invertebrates and other activities following a theme each week. My favourite theme was all about ducks, we fed them oats, peas, seeds, and spinach, then created our own ponds and nests for our rubber duck friends! This was a session I had planned, so to see the tots really enjoying themselves felt rewarding. This week I planned the easter special and took lead of the session for the first time, in preparation for my first solo wild tots’ session next week (wish me luck!). Luckily, the Easter Bunny had visited, as we found chocolate along our woodland trail and toasted hot cross buns on the fire.

Lucy and I have also ran a school session on Rushmere Heath on a gorgeous, sunny day. We taught the year 3 groups about pollination and seed dispersal. They pretended to be squirrels hiding their acorns and bees pollinating and collecting lots of nectar. I think I had as much fun as they did!

Recently, we also visited the Norfolk Suffolk Foundation Trust for two sessions of nest box, bat box and hedgehog home building with male probationers. It was great to see residents engaging in the activities and asking lots of great questions about wildlife in their area. All the end-products were put up on the day, so hopefully we will soon be updated on any wildlife moving in!

A few other brilliant experiences so far:

• Forest school with Katharine and Charlie in the snow!
• Hunting for invertebrates at Foxburrow Farm (I found a newt and a flat back millipede!)
• Creating wildflower patches with the Weekend Wildlife Club and Young Wardens
• Meeting the youth board and a tour of Lackford Lakes (I found a rabbit skull!)

Thank you for reading and be sure to keep an eye out for future blogs, to find out what else we get up to in the coming months!
 

Check out our other internship blogs here!