Shortly after finishing the internship, I received a PhD offer from the University of Edinburgh looking at the ecological strategies of trees in African Woodlands on the E4DTP. I am currently in third year and my deadline is August 2027. I have been fortunate to spend several months based in Namibia and Angola collecting data on tree growth rates, quantifying ontogenetic stages (seed, seedling, sapling and mature tree) and building a functional trait dataset. I am yet to publish my research but last year I did write a blog and a post fieldwork report as part of my funding requirement. Further details can be found here.

This internship gave me extra research experience outside of university, helping separate me from other candidates. It also confirmed to me that I wanted to work in academia and with trees. You can read more about Alice’s time as a CFP intern here: Intern diary – Alice.

Since leaving the CFP I’ve been working with the National Trust for Scotland at Glencoe NNR as a Long-term Volunteer Ranger. This has been a busy and practical role covering everything from visitor engagement, practical conservation, habitat and species surveying, and estate maintenance.

Whilst I have taken a more hands-on career turn, my time with the CFP was helpful in boosting my communication, project design and community engagement skills, as well as helpful in building my connections within the conservation sector, something which has been incredibly useful as I look for next steps towards paid work. You can read more about Jack’s time as a CFP intern here: Intern Diary – Jack on public perceptions of ‘lost’ tree species.