MSc Species Identification and Survey Skills

The ecological consultancy sector is buoyant as legislation and land management restrictions are becoming ever more stringent forcing developers to go through consultants prior to construction and to carry out any mitigation required. Consequently there are extensive employment opportunities. This MSc is unique in the UK and is designed to offer students a stepping-stone into Ecological Consultancy. To ensure that appropriate training is provided to achieve this, Biological Sciences has established a partnership with RSK Carter Ecological to jointly deliver material. RSK Carter Ecological is one of the largest ecological consultants in the UK.

A frequent complaint by ecological consultants is that students with the desired level of identification and field survey skills are not available for recruitment. This means that the consultant must spend many months getting recruits 'up-to-speed' which costs time, money and resources. In addition to providing information and carrying out exercises, the principal aim of this MSc (SISS) is to offer students an outstanding opportunity to develop their CV appropriately to facilitate interview and subsequent employment.

Reading University is well known for its wildlife conservation work and options within the SISS MSc offer students the chance to sample issues and opportunities within the conservation sector. Employers within the conservation sector desire applicants with field identification and survey skills just as much as ecological consultants. The SISS MSc is designed to provide everything required to enter a career in consultancy but not to pigeonhole you should you find yourself moving towards employment in conservation.

Taught modules include:

Term 1

Research & Professional skills, Practical Wildlife Management, Quantitative methods, Vegetation Survey & Assessment, Invertebrate Survey and Assessment, plus one option

Term 2

Quantitative methods, Vertebrate Survey and Assessment. Research & Professional skills GIS for Ecology and Conservation, Vegetation Survey & Assessment, plus one option

Summer placement with RSK Carter Ecological working alongside professionals on species and habitat surveys, reporting and tendering or a standard summer research project.

One Year - Full time.

Associated Institutions

The MSc course is supported by a variety of other organizations including Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, the Hawk Conservancy Trust and OHES.

The University has well-established collaborative links with most of these organizations and elements of teaching are delivered by all of them. In addition, Reading MSc students have a long history of carrying out their projects with these organizations, quite often as a prelude to employment.

Support

University support for students and their learning falls into two categories. Learning support includes IT Services, which has several hundred computers, and the University Library which across its three sites holds over a million volumes, subscribes to around 4,000 current periodicals, has a range of electronic sources of information and houses the Student Access to Independent Learning (S@iL) computer-based teaching and learning facilities. There are language laboratory facilities both for those students studying for a language degree and for those taking modules offered by the Institution-wide Language Programme. Student guidance and welfare support are provided by Programme Directors, the Careers Advisory Service, the University's Special Needs Advisor, Study Advisors, Hall Wardens and the Students' Union. Each student will be assigned to a personal tutor and in the Summer will also have a research project supervisor.