As Summer 2026 draws to a close, we are saying a fond farewell to our wonderful interns, Alice and Kristina. Over the past few months, Alice has been a valued member of the Conservation and Research Department, while Kristina has brought enthusiasm and creativity to our Education and Marketing teams. Their hard work, fresh perspectives, and positive contributions have made a lasting impact across the organisation, and we are incredibly grateful for all they have achieved during their time with us. We wish them every success in their future endeavours and look forward to following their exciting next steps.
Alice’s experience at the Trust
Since starting as the Conservation and Research intern at the Hawk Conservancy Trust in June, I have had an action-packed start to my career in conservation!
Monitoring the onsite biodiversity on site at the Trust has been one of my favourite aspects of my time here! I have been able to see and survey the amazing birds on site, including Barn Owls and Corn Buntings, completed bat surveys (with a Leisler’s bat recorded!), investigated the many plant species on site and even seen badgers on camera traps! While I came to the Trust with birds as my favourite, I’ve absolutely loved monitoring the butterflies and day-flying moths on the site this year, with 39 species recorded at the Trust so far! Seeing Reg’s Wildflower Meadow ‘sparkle’ with so many butterflies was beautiful and I’ve seen so many I could name favourites, such as Clouded Yellows and Marbled Whites! Discovering the beautiful moths flying at night at the Trust has also been amazing – including my first ever Poplar Hawk Moth! Learning from volunteers at moth trapping mornings and then sharing my newfound knowledge at the Big Wild Weekend in August has been so amazing and I am very grateful!
I’ve also had the opportunity to get involved with the Trust’s Conservation and Research projects, particularly getting involved in a Small Mammal Surveying project off-site investigating prey populations! Tanith, the Research Assistant at the Trust, has taught me so much about small mammals and we have had an incredibly busy time handling lots of Wood Mice, Common Shrews, tiny Pygmy Shrews, feisty Yellow-necked Mice, a Water Shrew and my favourites, the Bank and Field Voles! My knowledge of small mammals has improved dramatically, and I have loved the opportunity to be able to see so many of these beautiful mammals up close in my hand thanks to Tanith’s guidance! As part of the British Raptor Project, I’ve also had the opportunity to handle bird of prey species in the field under the close supervision of Dr Matt Stevens, helping to ring my first ever Tawny Owl chick, and mapped habitat and monitored GPS tagged Kestrels as part of the Kestrel Conservation Monitoring Project. I have also been out to set camera traps as part of the Raptor Risk Map project! Being out and about in the field has allowed me to be constantly surrounded by wildlife, with highlights including nesting Barn Swallows, following so many Humming-bird Hawk Moths and even seeing a sunset-lit Goshawk!
As a visitor to the Hawk Conservancy Trust for many years and the place that genuinely sparked my journey into conservation, my time spent at the Hawk Conservancy Trust has been a real privilege and a lot of fun! I have had the opportunity to meet lovely volunteers and am incredibly thankful to my supervisor, Dr Jamie McKaughan, and everyone at the Trust for supporting and teaching me throughout my internship!
Kristina’s experience at the Trust
It is hard to believe that my internship at the Hawk Conservancy Trust has come to an end. I arrived hoping to gain practical experience in conservation education, but I am leaving with so much more – new skills, greater confidence, wonderful memories and an even stronger certainty that this is the field I want to build my career in.
Working at the Trust has given me the opportunity to experience many different sides of conservation education. I have supported and taken the lead in delivering school workshops, created educational resources and developed activities for events including Dream Night, Big Wild Weekend, Art Weekend and International Vulture Awareness Day. One of my biggest projects was developing the Nature Explorers Challenge – an interactive addition to the Trust’s Tree Trail. I was able to take the project from the initial idea through design and implementation to collecting visitor feedback, analysing the results and making recommendations for its future development.
Big Wild Weekend was another highlight. I developed activities and resources showcasing the Trust’s conservation work, including the Raptor Nest Box Project, small mammal surveys, moths, pond life and owl pellets. Seeing visitors engage with activities I had spent weeks developing and having conversations with them about the conservation work behind them, was incredibly rewarding.
I have also been lucky enough to step outside education and experience some of the practical conservation work happening at the Trust, including small mammal, moth and bat surveys.
What I will take away most, however, is how much I have learned from the people around me. This experience has given me the freedom to be creative, challenged me to try new things and helped me grow in confidence as both an educator and conservationist. I am incredibly grateful to everyone at the Trust who shared their knowledge, supported my ideas and made me feel part of the team.
