We meet Rosie Hutchings, Lederman Trainee

Rosie Hutchings and Mark Newton are both trainees as part of the Dr Vera Dalley Lederman Scholarship and Environmental Training Programme. The Trust works in partnership with the Leysdown Conservation Trust to provide an opportunity for two individuals to gain a vast array of valuable experience and skills in the conservation/environmental field.

Keep an eye out for the monthly blogs being posted by Mark and Rosie

Tell us a bit about yourself:

My name is Rosie, I’m 21 years old and come from Lewes. I’ve lived in Sussex all my life. I’ve always had a keen interest in nature and spent most of my childhood in the garden or out in the woods exploring or rescuing injured animals.

Can you explain what the Vera Lederman Traineeship is?

Although we’re only a few weeks into this 18 month traineeship, from what I have found out, it primarily focuses on giving us a diverse range of experience in the Land Management and Communities and Wildlife fields. The skills we learn during our time here will be extremely valuable for future roles in conservation.

There will be lots of practical, hands-on work, involving training in use of machinery and in habitat management, with a focus on caring for the land at Leysdown (near Hartfield) specifically.

Why did you apply?

I applied for this traineeship as I knew it would give me a chance to put in to practise some of the skills I learnt during my time at Plumpton College studying Land and Wildlife Management. I’m really excited to learn more about our native species and how we can best manage our local nature reserves.

What skills/experience/qualities do you need to be a trainee?

In my opinion to be a trainee you don’t necessarily need a huge amount of previous experience. I believe that the main qualities you need are a willingness to develop your understanding and most importantly an interest in what you’re doing.

What do you hope to get out of it?

From my traineeship I hope to extend my understanding of conservation issues and learn more about land management. I can’t wait to develop my ID skills and take part in surveying different habitats.

I hope that throughout this experience, my love for nature will grow even more. I would like to narrow down my areas of interest to a specific role within conservation, that I can then work towards.

What have you enjoyed most so far?

So far my favourite part has been an afternoon of coppicing at Leysdown. It was really nice to carry out a job which I’ve done a little bit before, and it’s something I’m keen to do more of. I especially enjoyed it because it is an age-old management technique and I think it’s great to keep these techniques going. It will be nice once we have finished the coppicing, to see the difference it makes to the habitat and species diversity.

What’s your favourite spot in Sussex and why?

My favourite spot in Sussex has to be the Chailey Commons. I spent a lot of time exploring this heathland habitat as a child and listening for nightjars on summer evenings as well as many walks in the ancient woodland at Markstakes Common. I really love this bit of Sussex.