Thinking about applying for an industrial placement with the Environment Agency? Read Melanie’s story to find out more about it.
Hello! I’m Melanie and I’m currently doing an industrial placement at the Environment Agency, within the Yorkshire Landfill team. I’ve studied 2 years of Natural Sciences at the University of Bath, majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Environmental Science. After my 12-month placement, I will be going back to university for my final year.
I applied to the Environment Agency because I wanted to gain experience within the environmental sector, where I hope to start a career in once I graduate. The opportunity to get involved with such a wide range of different teams and departments was also of particular interest to me.
I started at the Environment Agency in September, but I have already had the opportunity to join my team on several site visits. This has included routine inspections of landfills to check for permit breaches, as well as assessing the methods and activities during the engineering of landfill sites. This has allowed me to develop my technical knowledge and learn more about waste regulation, which will be beneficial for one of my final year modules on environmental legislation and waste management.
Additionally, I have learned how to use specialist equipment for measuring methane emissions from landfills, and the results of these readings have informed us which sites need improving, to hopefully lower future emissions. It has been really motivating to work for an organisation where I can actively see the positive impacts we are making.
The Environment Agency provides a broad range of training opportunities, so I jumped at the chance to learn how to use GIS mapping software, which I hope to apply later in my placement. Other work I have done so far has included a report on our compliance and enforcement delivery for poor performing sites. This developed my writing and communication skills since I was corresponding with various colleagues to find the right data and information.
I have felt extremely welcomed by the Environment Agency; everyone is enormously friendly and keen to share their knowledge and experiences. It’s also been interesting to learn what other teams do, and I’m expecting to work on projects with some of the other teams later in my placement, which will be very exciting.
Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to network with other placement students in the Environment Agency, and we have been able to share our experiences. My team leader has also encouraged me to take inspiration from other’s work and suggest areas that I am interested in.
I am excited to gain more responsibilities as I progress through my placement, and as I learn more about different roles within the Agency it will aid me in knowing where I want to focus my career.
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