Since being our first Jersey Water Bursary recipient, Jordan Todd has worked in varied ecologically-based roles, currently employed locally with Nurture Ecology. The 2015 winner of ‘Pride of Jersey Environmentalist of the Year’ took time away from his current ‘Meadow Management’ project to discuss what the bursary has meant for him and his career.
Jordan at work on the Meadow Management Project
I went to Les Quennevais and Hautlieu before studying Environmental Biology (BSc Hons) at Plymouth. During and after completing my degree I worked at Jersey Water, gaining valuable work experience along the way. I then went to work at the Bristol Environment Agency for a year. My role there involved assessing environmental permits and licences for land owners. This comprised completing chemical analysis of materials to ensure they were safe to be put on/into the land and would not leech into the wider environment. Assessing nitrogen and iron levels were key components of this and considering how chemicals could run into nearby streams was something that I had experience of from Jersey Water.
After working in Bristol I went to London to work for the ‘Feed in Tariff’ initiative in a more office-based role. This involved looking into the rates chargeable for solar panels and wind turbines to provide energy to the national grid. It was a lot less hands-on and I realised through working here that I prefer working outside. This led me back to Jersey and to working with Nurture Ecology. (The team offer land management, surveying and reporting services for the protection of Jersey’s natural flora and fauna).
Whilst working in the UK I learned techniques that I wanted to apply back at home in Jersey as it’s like working in your own back garden. On my return I asked the Nurture Ecology team for work experience to do this and have now been with the team for a few years. The unique set of wildlife that Jersey offers creates a ‘micro climate’ and my interest in fresh water ecology pushed me to ask to be part of the current Meadow Management project from start to finish. At Jersey Water I learnt a lot of background knowledge in this area and I was keen to put this in action.
“The bursary is definitely worth applying for. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Jersey Water and working within a tight-knit company where everyone gets along. Being part of the team was really enjoyable.”
The bursary scheme has helped me a lot. Financially at the time of my studying by taking the pressure off and professionally during my work experience. This was the most valuable part of the bursary for me because you get the normal experience of working hard in the workplace and being in a professional environment and also specific experience of working in a lab in Jersey which can be very hard to come by. I got to learn about the whole company and departments, seeing how and why things are done and from a variety of perspectives at Jersey Water. This allowed me to appreciate the workings of a company.
I saw some really interesting things at Jersey Water. Environmentally, during my time there I was able to see the team drain Val de La Mare; how this was done, the environmental impact and how this was successfully managed. I also learned about water testing and sampling for household supplies and energy consumption. This meant I could understand how much of a process is involved at Jersey Water from rain to tap.
To send us your application for the 2016 Jersey Water Bursary Award, find all the details you need here: www.jerseywater.je/community/bursary-scheme/
The deadline is tomorrow: 7th April 2016.