When Hollie Blaydes started looking for places to go to university, she didn’t think she’d find a course or a place that had all the elements she wanted.

But a visit to her best friend from her home in Manchester, who was studying at Lancaster University, provided a solution.

“I really liked the atmosphere, it felt safe. I’ve always been an outdoorsy sort of person, I love walking and camping, and Lancaster’s location is great for that with the Lakes so near. And I love wildlife and wanted to do a course that was biology related, so Ecology and Conservation seemed to fit.”

She wasn’t disappointed. “When I first arrived at Lancaster the staff made a big effort to introduce us to the university way of life, they taught us how to write academically, and how to do the maths and stats we needed.”

At the end of her first year Hollie got a 2.1, a good result, but not good enough for her.

“I really I wanted to graduate with a first, so when I went into second year I worked really hard and put in hours of revision.”

Hollie’s hard work paid off and she got her first, and also won the Lancaster Environment Centre prize for “the Year 3 undergraduate reading for a BSc/MSci degree in Biology Environmental Biology or Ecology and Conservation who has displayed the most diligence, enthusiasm and good progress in general.”

Hollie was able to develop her love and understanding of wildlife through both her academic studies and volunteering.

She particularly loved the field courses including an Upland Ecology field course in the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland and the Doñana National Park field trip to a biodiversity hot spot in Spain.

She was also one of the first students to go on the new Tropical Biology and Conservation field course in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

“It was very practical and hands on. We got to see some amazing wildlife, travelling around different sites. We had outdoor lectures, discussing what we came across and the issues that came up, such as human wildlife conflict and development.

“We put up camera traps where we were staying, leaving them out overnight so we could see what passed through the camp when we were asleep, including leopards and hyenas. It was a bit scary to think about it, but we were fine. The lecturers used to do bird ringing and we got to handle the birds that we caught.”

Hollie gained experience of a different kind through volunteering. She volunteered for two months in the radio-ecology section of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, based within the Lancaster Environment Centre.

“I was looking at camera trap data in the Chernobyl nuclear accident exclusion zone, on a project to see what wildlife was thriving in the absence of humans.”

And in her final year she volunteered at the RSPB site in nearby Leighton Moss, doing practical conservation work, managing habitats of rare butterflies.

In her dissertation, Hollie made use of the camera data skills she had developed earlier, using footage from a video camera on site to research the parental care of blue tits, using a study population on campus.

“It was my first chance to do a bit of research for myself, helping to design a project and doing it from start to finish: it was very satisfying.

“I enjoyed every part of my time at Lancaster. The department is really well run. It prepares you really well for everything and makes you feel confident. There was always help if you needed it both academically and personally, you couldn’t ask for any more.”

Hollie can’t decide if she wants to continue to do research or to pursue a career in the environmental sector.

“I’m starting a Conservation and Biodiversity MSc at Lancaster in October: I hope that will help me make up my mind which way to go. I can’t wait to get back to Uni.”

Learn more about studying Ecology and Conservation at Lancaster University.