Testimonials: What People Are Saying!
2020-21
Hollie Lane
(Nottingham Trent University, Professional training year student 2020-2021)
“My professional training year for the Frozen Ark involved working at home and Nottingham due to the pandemic. During this year I was able to develop skills such as communications, digital marketing, lab work and coding; all skills I would be without if it weren’t for my placement year. The team at the Frozen ark were very accommodating especially during COVID times and made it feel like a team experience despite everyone being in different locations. I was exposed to a new career and made great connections with those I met along my journey and look forward to keeping in touch with everyone and moving into a career in conservation and biobanking after I finish my degree. Thank you to Maf and everyone else at the Frozen Ark for making my placement year so enjoyable and beneficial!”
Lydia Hudson
(University of Bath, Professional Training Year student 2020-2021)
"I joined the Frozen Ark team in 2020 for my placement year, and I can hardly imagine any placement being more perfect for me. I had the opportunity to research the issue of improving environmental sustainability in a biobanking context, which gave me a really interesting and in-depth appreciation of the complexity of practically transitioning to sustainable approaches. Working for the charity also gave me a deeper understanding of the biodiversity crisis, and the varied conservation efforts that we vitally need to adopt and accelerate. In addition to this, I had lots of public engagement opportunities, my favourite of which was attending science festivals and getting to represent Frozen Ark/Virtual Ark at the Green Man Festival. I’m so thankful to all the team at Frozen Ark for making the experience so rewarding and providing me with invaluable skills that I can take forward into a future career in environmental science and public engagement."
Rhian Davies
(University of Bath, Professional Training Year student 2020-2021)
“I carried out my professional training year with the Frozen Ark from 2020 – 2021. During this time, I had the opportunity to expand my understanding of conservation and biobanking, as well as to develop a broad variety of skills ranging from research to scientific communication. I was given the freedom to work on projects which interested me and despite predominantly working from home, I was able to complete a fieldwork project investigating urban mammal species. I was also part of a number of other activities including participating in scientific festivals, presenting at conferences and undertaking online courses. The Frozen Ark team are incredibly friendly and I am very grateful to those who helped to make the experience so valuable. This year has helped enormously to prepare me for my final year at Bath and my future career in Biology.”
Cléa Audin
(University of Bath, Professional Training Year student 2020-2021)
I was fortunate enough to spend my professional training year with the Frozen Ark. My main tasks involved scientific communication, social media marketing, conservation research, and developing biobanking techniques. For my research project, I planned and carried out fieldwork surveys on urban mammals in Cardiff. The Frozen Ark team were very welcoming and despite mainly working from home, they made sure we felt like a part of the family! There were numerous opportunities to develop my skillset, such as attending online courses, presenting at conferences, setting up a podcast, and taking part in science festivals. I am so thankful to have worked with the Frozen Ark and cannot recommend it enough!
2019-20
Danielle Ellis
(Cardiff University, Professional training year student 2019-2020)
“Spending my Professional Training Year with the Frozen Ark was an informative and invaluable experience. Not only was I able to collaborate on and direct my own research project, but also to try my hand at other things that are beyond the laboratory. These things include web design, going to a scientific conference and demonstrating at a science festival. Moving forward from my time with Frozen Ark, I feel better equipped as a student to complete my degree to the best of my abilities and grateful to have met a group of amazing people in the Frozen Ark Team.”
Sabrina Iqbal
(University of Manchester, Professional training year student 2019-2020)
“I joined the Frozen Ark in 2019 as a PTY and have enjoyed every single minute! There were lots of opportunities to gain skills at Frozen Ark; for example, I attended an inventory training day at NHM where I learned how to conduct an inventory of frozen biological samples. I also attended numerous public engagement workshops at the university to help with both my confidence and communication skills. Along with this, I gained good laboratory and statistical analysis experience within my project. My favourite moment was representing Frozen Ark at the Wales Evolution and Ecology Networking (WEEN) conference as it was tonnes of fun. It has been such an exciting, valuable opportunity, and I wish it wasn’t cut short by the pandemic. However, even working from home has proved enjoyable thanks to Maf and the team. We organised online public engagement activities such as the #FrozenArtProject on Twitter and online Creative ‘Virtual Ark’ Workshops. Even as I embark on my own career path, I will continue to spread the word about Frozen Ark and their goals. Thanks everyone!”
Samuel Wilmot
(University of Bath, Professional training year student 2019-2020)
“My placement year here at the Frozen Ark has been a great experience, with my thanks going to Mafalda and the whole Frozen Ark team. During my placement I have been able to develop a wide variety of scientific skills in both the practical aspects of lab work and in data analysis as well as gaining a much better understanding of the process of scientific writing. During my placement at the Frozen Ark I also picked up skills I hadn’t expected to learn such as management and creation of public engagement activities and how to generate meaningful feedback from those events. My year spent working at the Frozen Ark has greatly expanded my understanding of working in a research setting and the skills I have acquired during this placement have been a great help in preparing me for my final year of study at Bath. I am immensely grateful for all the members of the Frozen Ark for their support and the opportunities they gave me during my time there and I look forward to seeing them continue to progress in their invaluable conservation work.”
Catherine Liguz
(University of Surrey, Professional Training Year student at the Frozen Ark 2019-2020)
“My placement with the Frozen Ark was hugely beneficial and enabled me to build on skills learned at university as well as gain a range of new skills and experiences. The Frozen Ark encouraged me to broaden my horizons and learn new skills in which I would not have had the opportunity to gain at university, such as using R Studio, Excel and QGIS to evaluate and present data. Additionally, I was able to strengthen my writing and research abilities through drafting literature reviews in preparation for my final year at university. I also learned the significance of biobanking and conservation and was able to educate others about The Frozen Ark Project at events around the country.
It has been a pleasure to work alongside members of the Frozen Ark and I am hugely grateful to have been a part of such a wonderful team.”
2018-19
Isadora Sinha
(Cardiff University, Final Year Project student with Frozen Ark Team)
"My final year project was an exciting opportunity to learn and develop my laboratory, bioinformatics and research skills. With the Frozen Ark , I received invaluable insights into how scientific studies are designed, protocols are optimised, and results are statistically validated. I also learned a great deal about biobanking, molecular ecology and conservation. The experience has been truly enriching not just due to the knowledge I gained, but also due to the amazing people in the team and because the Frozen Ark’s work is for a good cause. I have been and will continue to volunteer and spread the word about the Frozen Ark!”
Georgina Russell
(University of Bath, Professional Training Year student at Frozen Ark)
"My placement in Cardiff has been hugely enjoyable, thanks to Maf and the whole Frozen Ark team. Not only have I developed my scientific skill set through projects both in the lab and using bioinformatics tools, but I have picked up other skills that I hadn’t expected, such website design, sample collection and sorting and public engagement activity development. After working for a year in the research lab I feel inspired to continue my career into a research setting but in the meantime, this experience has been of huge benefit in preparing me for my final year of study at Bath."
Sarah Harwood
(Cardiff University, Professional training year student 2018-2019)
“I spent my professional training year working for the Frozen Ark in Nottingham where I had the opportunity to develop my programming skills and work alongside PhD students in the labs. As well as advancing my scientific and technical skill set, I gained skills in social media, event organisation and public speaking. My time with the Frozen Ark has been a big part of my university experience and I feel privileged to have been part of the team.”
2017-18
Andrew Beazer
(University of Bath, Professional Training Year student at Frozen Ark)
“Spending my placement year with the Frozen Ark Project was an incredibly formative experience for me. I was given the opportunity to plan and carry out my own research project, which is an opportunity not many undergraduate students get, and I was tasked with learning the software that would be used by the charity to create its database. My experiences over the year have put me in an incredibly strong position for my final year. I had an amazing year with an amazing group of people."
Laurie Fabian
(University of Bath, Professional Training Year student at Frozen Ark)
"Working with the Frozen Ark Project on my placement year was an invaluable experience. I was able to gain exposure to both lab and office work, which allowed me to develop and apply my knowledge and understanding of different fields of Biology in a practical setting. Designing and completing my research project (among other opportunities) has been a brilliant experience, setting me in good stead for my final year. It was great to be one of the first undergraduate placement students working with the Frozen Ark Project, I look forward to seeing their progress in years to come!"
Dr Josie D'Urban Jackson
(University of Bath and Cardiff University, NERC GW4+ PhD secondment student at Frozen Ark)
"I joined The Frozen Ark team in 2017 during an exciting period of the charity’s development and got stuck into a variety of projects. My main task was to organise the Zoological Society of London’s frozen collection, but I was also involved with analysing a national survey of biobanks and public outreach events. As well as learning a huge amount about biobanking itself, it was a wonderful experience to work with such dedicated staff and partners. I have been spreading the word of the Frozen Ark ever since!"