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Campus biodiversity boosted through student's placement work

Posted Today

Biodiversity across the SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ campus and farm has been recorded and boosted - thanks to a Zoology student’s work on placement.

Matthew England, from Horsham, West Sussex, is now in the final year of his BSc (Hons) Zoology with Entomology degree – after spending his placement year working in a role funded by the University’s Grounds team and Environment and Sustainability Group.

Throughout his placement, Matthew worked with University staff and students as well as local and national wildlife groups to help maintain the Harper Adams campus and farm and improve it for wildlife.

He said: “My placement was great, as with my time split between the farm Environment and Sustainability Group and the Grounds department, it provided massive variation in my day-to-day routine.

“I was really glad I had the opportunity to so much spend time outside across the Harper estate.”

Among the events which Matthew took part in was a hedge planting session on footpaths crossing the University estate alongside the Edgmond Wildlife Group and a full-day Bioblitz, drawing together academics and students from across a wide range of departments and courses to record species across the Harper Adams farm and campus.

Matthew added: “The hedge planting was an excellent opportunity - as I was involved in the whole process, from surveying and site selection to the ongoing maintenance, so being able to share my experience of that process with others was wonderful.

“I was also grateful for the chance to make a lasting contribution to the local landscape with those whom it most benefits - you could tell how passionate the volunteers were about it.”

Meanwhile, the need for the bioblitz rose from the work of the Environment and Sustainability Land and Soil Farm Group.

Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation and Land Management Dr Julia Casperd said: “The group were tasked to baseline biodiversity on the University’s Future Farm to support its sustainable transition to Net Zero by 2030.

“Harper Adams staff did an immense piece of work to set these baselines – which Matthew supported with his hedgerow surveying in his placement role, and which various students supported over the two years through their work on events such as the bioblitz.

“The bioblitz was seen as a way in which students and staff could come together with the wider Edgmond community and build further evidence of the current levels of biodiversity on the farm.

“It also was seen as a training opportunity to provide students with key field skills they may not have otherwise acquired during their courses.”

In total, 86 distinct species of plants, animals and fungi were recorded during the event – which again included the Edgmond Wildlife Group, as well as other organisations such as Butterfly Conservation.

Matthew added: “The data collected will be used to construct a biodiversity baseline, which will help with long-term monitoring of trends in British wildlife….

“It's also great to have access to this data for any ongoing research and to inform any management of Harper land – though as you can imagine, this was quite an undertaking given the size and variability of habitats across the University estate!

“It was great to see so many people getting involved.

“It really showed how important biodiversity loss is as an issue to everyone who took part and braved the weather.”