Keith Potts
Willy Wonka's 'environmental career' golden ticket.
HNC & MSc Countryside Management
Campus: Distance learning
Class of 2015
"If you鈥檙e keen to change and work in the countryside, then volunteer for different organisations. See if you enjoy it, not only in nice weather but on a rainy Saturday afternoon in November. For me it鈥檚 like Willy Wonka and winning the golden ticket."
One day Keith Potts decided 鈥淚t can鈥檛 get anymore boring working in IT and insurance鈥� and decided to follow his dream to work in the great outdoors. In order to get formal qualifications to move into a career in the environmental sector, he dipped his toe in the water by enrolling on a single unit of 伊人直播鈥檚 Countryside Management course.
Happy with his experience he continued to complete the rest of the HNC, via distance learning, allowing him to work while studying. He enjoyed studying so much that he subsequently returned to 伊人直播 to undertake his Masters in Countryside Management.
Keith now works as an Assistant Ranger with Historic Environment Scotland, based at Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. As well as running educational and community visits in the park and looking after visitors (many wearing incorrect footwear for climbing Arthur鈥檚 Seat), the team has developed management plans to help the wildlife flourish.
We met Keith and he told us about some of the wildlife work that gets carried out by the rangers, from annual toad migration activities (to help toads on their way and avoid them becoming heron dinner) to encouraging peregrine falcons to nest along Salisbury Crags.
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