I am a second year undergraduate studying Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science in UWE Bristol. I have always had an interest in nature and wildlife and I was very lucky to live in the countryside in Ireland my whole life and be surrounded by it. My interest in turning my love for the Earth into a career started when I watched David Attenborough - A Life on Our Planet. The realisation of how we as humans are affecting the planet and the little bit of hope Sir David left at the end of the documentary hugely motivated me to become part of the solution and make a difference.I have been working in Hospitality and Customer Service for 14 years. Luckily, I have experienced such a wide range of jobs in different countries and I have acquired many transferrable skills. Some of the skills I have picked up over the years are leadership/teamwork, communication, patience, adaptability, initiative, organisation and dependability. Since starting my journey of environmental studies, I volunteered for a Belfast company called Ulster Wildlife, for a couple of months. In this role I assisted with invasive species control, bog management, and environmental rally's. I've attended several tree planting events with the Woodland Trust and Black Mountain rewilding project, as well as a couple I organised myself for fundraisers. The fundraisers that I organised, were to raise money for a Turtle Conservation centre in Naifaru, Maldives. Other fundraisers included a music event and a litter picking day. In summer 2022 I travelled to the Maldives for one month and helped with slowly reintroducing injured turtles back into their natural habitat, feeding the turtles, cleaning tanks and helping with the education programme for local children. After coming home from the Maldives I worked for a couple of months in the south of Ireland using the cut and spray method on Rhododendron to tackle to invasive species in the hills of Connemara. During the time I've had on my degree so far I have picked up different field skills like identifying species of plants and insects, identifying the water qualities by the different insects found, scientific writing, collecting data, and use of field equipment.I am very excited about continuing my journey in ecology. I'm always up for having new experiences and learning as much as possible!