Hello! My name is Fiona and I started a TCV Natural Talent apprenticeship hosted by Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS) in October. I am enjoying my placement so far and have met some interesting people who are doing some excellent work out there! I write a weekly (sometimes fortnightly) blog on the RAFTS website, which you will find here:http://www.rafts.org.uk/category/fionas-blog/.
To sum up my background: I started off in animal husbandry managing kennels and catteries, volunteered at then worked at a wildlife hospital for many years, studied wildlife conservation at university and volunteered in my spare time, post graduation I volunteered for just over two years on nature reserves and at public events, then gained a seasonal contract as an assistant warden in spring 2013 – which involved looking after four Scottish Mink Initiative (SMI) mink rafts on my reserve and regularly trapping. This sparked my interest in INNS management and led to me applying for my current post, and to my disbelief I got it and here I am!
The main focus of my placement is Invasive Non Native Species (INNS), but I am trying to also get a good overview of the varied work RAFTS undertakes too. So far I have been to many conferences, tagged along on a SMI (http://www.scottishmink.org.uk/) tour of Northern Scotland to show volunteers the new mink app, carried out Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed surveys with the Forth Fisheries Trust, electro-fished for bullheads with the Clyde River Foundation, and stripped salmon up at Cromarty Firth Fisheries Trust. I will be mostly office based next year as I will be collecting and collating INN plant species control data from all of our member trusts, to create a final report. This report will show funders the extent of the problem, how successful the work undertaken has been and hopefully support future applications. However I will get chance to go out and about and work with our member trusts too, having already committed to spraying Giant Hogweed on a stretch of the Allan Water with Forth Fisheries Trust.
I will leave you with a few photos highlighting the work I have done so far and wish you all a happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!