Category Archives: Environmental Work

Employer Case Study: Adaero Precision Components Ltd 

Name of Organisation:  Adaero Precision Components Ltd

Description of Organisation: We were founded in 1988 and, since January 2015, have been part of the Indutrade group. Adaero is a specialist manufacturer of high precision components, engineered to customer specifications. We aspire to be first choice for companies who require high quality finished parts ready for assembly at competitive prices. We invest in state of the art machine tools and continually improve what we do so that we supply machined parts of genuine excellence. Our skilled and experienced team continually innovate to meet customers’ changing needs.

Name of Employer:  David Smith

Job Title: Finance Manager

Internship Scheme usedGreen Consultants 

Feedback:

“We recruited an intern to work as a Green Consultant. The intern comprehensively reviewed our environmental impact and provided a report which recommended a range of actions. Our final action plan takes on most of the actions recommended by the intern, with a small few overridden by commercial factors. The vast majority of his recommendations will be put in place.

We got value from this internship and will explore further graduate roles, probably covering other priority aspects of our business. The internship provided very useful independent review of our own initiatives, giving us a fresh and well-informed pair of eyes to evaluate where we had left gaps. The intern was eloquent, influential and professional.”

Employer Case Study: The Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Name of Organisation:  The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery

Description of Organisation: The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) is one of Britain’s finest regional museums and a flagship service of Exeter City Council. Its displays showcase world-class collections and collectors that tell the story of Exeter and Devon from the prehistoric to the present.

Name of Employer:  Sophie Harbour

Job Title: Engagement Officer (Skills Development)

Internship Scheme used:  Green Consultants

Feedback:

“We recruited two interns to work as Green Consultants.

One of our interns spent a week researching RAMM’s waste management and following her this developed:

  • A sustainable agenda for waste management across the RAMM’s services, notably in relation to recycling of staff, shop, and café waste.
  • A focus on taking forward the Green Champion initiative and making suggestions for reducing single use plastic waste.
  • A more formal sustainable policy for the RAMM’s shop based on their verbal policy which is printable and can be shared with customers.

Our other intern researched potential methods of making RAMM’s museum building more energy efficient, more specifically by;

  • Using energy assessment tools to identify key problem areas in addition to those suggested by staff (insulation, open space and lighting)
  • Identifying key sustainability solutions to increase energy efficiency of the RAMM building by looking at new technology such as BEMS and best practice from similar buildings
  • Suggesting solutions should be effective at increasing energy efficiency, be financially affordable as well as practically feasible in terms of implementation for a grade II listed building.

This internship was a real success. We didn’t find there were any aspects that didn’t go well. Both interns did a fantastic job with their research and the outcomes will be used in the future. The outcomes of which we will use to inform future funding applications in order to implement some of this work.”

Employer Case Study: EFFECT Photonics Ltd (2)

Name of Organisation:  EFFECT Photonics Ltd

Description of Organisation: EFFECT Photonics have been shaping the future of photonics by interconnecting humanity through fast, affordable, sustainable, and effective communication technologies. The emergence of DWDM is one of the most innovative and important phenomena in the development of fibre optic communication technology. From both technical and economical perspectives, the ability to provide the world potentially unlimited data transmission capacity and bandwidth is a massive advantage of our DWDM technology.

Name of Employer:  Tim Durrant

Job Title: Engineering Manager

Internship Scheme usedGreen Consultants

“The green consultant student was tasked with providing a top level briefing for a gap analysis of our high tech start up business for plans to achieve ISO14001 in 2021. With her we worked up a plan for surveying the business though all the main stake holders. This work was then followed through and an excellent Executive Summary report with appendices showing main points for 14001, with linkage to ISO9001 (which we are working on this year). A very useful foundation document setting the scene for the future. The intern fully fulfilled the brief and even exceeded it by linking across to ISO9001.

The student worked flexibly and coped well with working around her exams and the additional challenges of Covid19. We had no issues and highly recommend the Green Consultants Scheme.”

Employer Case Study: EFFECT Photonics Ltd 

Name of Organisation:  EFFECT Photonics Ltd

Description of Organisation: EFFECT Photonics have been shaping the future of photonics by interconnecting humanity through fast, affordable, sustainable, and effective communication technologies. The emergence of DWDM is one of the most innovative and important phenomena in the development of fibre optic communication technology. From both technical and economical perspectives, the ability to provide the world potentially unlimited data transmission capacity and bandwidth is a massive advantage of our DWDM technology.

Name of Employer:  Tim Durrant

Job Title: Engineering Manager

Internship Scheme usedGreen Consultants

“We recruited an intern to work as a Green Consultant. She took part in various tasks which were completed excellently. They really helped with moving the business forward, this was then followed by a very effective hand over to the three month intern from the Sustainability Hub in Plymouth.

The Internship from Green Consultants at Exeter proved very valuable. It allowed some high quality focussed support to be brought to bear and accelerate the environmental policies and practices of EFFECT Photonics Ltd forward. The prior knowledge, enthusiasm, willingness to learn as well as contribute followed by an effective hand over for follow on will have a lasting positive impact on the business. Thank you.”

Employer Case Study: Coldharbour Mill Trust Limited

Name of Organisation:  Coldharbour Mill Trust Limited

Description of Organisation: Coldharbour Mill is one of the oldest woollen mills in the UK having been in continuous production since 1797. Originally owned by world-renowned textile producers Fox Brothers, the Mill took fleece from all over the world and transformed it into yarn, cloth and textiles. Today the rich heritage lives on as one of the finest working wool museums where visitors are not just able to relive the sights and sounds of the industrial revolution but also see crafts men and women making traditional textiles, beautiful knitting yarn and hand-woven rugs.

Name of Employer:  Peter Holdway-Bradely

Job Title: General Manager

Internship Scheme used: Green Consultants 

Feedback:

“We recruited an intern to work as a Green Consultant. He created a great carbon impact report which encompassed the work we currently do, what we could do in the future and some areas we had not yet thought of tackling.

He was very focused and dealt well with some of the areas where company knowledge or historical information was difficult to find. The intern was hard-working, focused and determined – and even pushed through when there were challenges in finding the correct information to analyse for the report.

We were very happy with the student’s work and with this experience and we hope that our intern would be able to say the same. Carbon Neutrality is something that the Board of Trustees is setting as an aim for the trust, and the Green Consultants work will be a great starting point as we embark on a more structured and focussed approach to our impact on the environment.

The scheme itself was very easy to work with and a great resource for organisations such as us, who may lack funds to focus on some of these key topics if this scheme wasn’t available. I would highly recommend the Green Consultant Programme to other companies.”

Employer Case Study: London Borough of Sutton Council

Name of Organisation:  London Borough of Sutton Council

Description of Organisation: London Borough of Sutton Council offers a range of statutory services to the local community.

Name of Employer:  Katrina Lloyd

Job Title: Sustainability Manager

Internship Scheme usedGreen Consultants

Feedback:

“We recruited an intern to work as a Green Consultant. The intern worked on a number of pieces of work including a schools food waste project where she was contacting schools to identify what collections were in place, who would be interested in a service and identifying suitable contractors to deliver the service.

The intern also complied a comprehensive set of data and statistics to support our communications work as well as, researching free and easy to access recycling schemes to promote to residents.

We had some minor technical difficulties, but the student borrowed a friend’s laptop and was able to overcome them quickly – usual problems with working at home and on new platforms.

The Green Consultants programme is a great experience, we have always been provided with an excellent calibre of student who have been hard working and delivered great results.”

Employer Case Study: ClearLead Consulting Ltd

Name of Organisation:  ClearLead Consulting Ltd

Description of Organisation: ClearLead Consulting is an international energy and sustainability consulting company founded in 2012, with offices in Canada, the UK, and Ireland.  ClearLead takes pride in giving our clients straight, practical advice and support, with a commitment to conduct work that is useful and makes a difference to clients.

ClearLead specialises in helping commercial, industrial and public sector clients reduce their energy costs, operate more sustainably and comply with complex environmental regulation, both in the UK and internationally.  ClearLead aims to lead by example and are therefore working to become carbon neutral as a company.

ClearLead’s services in the sustainability and energy field include corporate sustainability and carbon neutrality/net zero strategies and assessments; Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) audits; energy audits and surveys; energy metering and monitoring systems; renewable feasibility studies and appraisals; resource efficiency (water and waste) programmes; carbon footprinting; training and behavioural change management programmes.

For more information, please see http://clearleadconsulting.com/.

Name of Employer:  Dave Covell

Job Title: Director

Internship Scheme usedGreen Consultants 

Feedback:

“We recruited an intern to work as a Green Consultant. Over the three weeks that our intern was with us he did a huge variety of different tasks that contributed to client work both fee earning and proposal writing as well as, improving some of the calculations for our internal carbon footprint in work.

The covid restrictions were probably the biggest obstacle to our intern’s time with us was that the restrictions impaired his ability to meet and get to know the team. However, the student worked admirably in building relationships through Teams and Zoom with the key folk in the business in very difficult circumstances which was very admirable.

As a result of this internship, we offered our intern an extension as we were so impressed with his work. We were very happy to welcome him to our team. I highly recommend the University of Exeter internship scheme to all businesses, we found it extremely valuable.”

Student Quote:

“The internship has opened my eyes to the importance of work experience. It has given me a far broader understanding of the standards expected in the workplace and identified crucial gaps in my knowledge that academia struggles to cover. The value of work experience cannot be overstated, and I encourage graduates in any discipline to investigate these kinds of opportunities as a means of improving their employability.”

Student Blog:

Clearleadconsulting.com/news/posts/clearlead-consulting-internship-experience-may-2021/

Employer Case Study: Appen 

Name of Organisation:  Appen

Description of Organisation: Appen collects and labels images, text, speech, audio, video, and other data used to build and continuously improve the world’s most innovative artificial intelligence systems. Our expertise includes having a global crowd of over 1 million skilled contractors who speak over 235 languages, in over 70,000 locations and 170 countries, and the industry’s most advanced AI-assisted data annotation platform. Our reliable training data gives leaders in technology, automotive, financial services, retail, healthcare, and governments the confidence to deploy world-class AI products. Founded in 1996, Appen has customers and offices globally.

Name of Employer: Morag Van Niekerk

Job Title: Business Operations Manager

Internship Scheme usedGreen Consultants

Feedback:

“We recruited an intern to work as a Green Consultant as we were developing our Sustainability policy over the next year and the internship would provide great support with this piece of work.

The student looked into how we can catalyse good practice across our sites. She also calculated our GHG emissions and created a waste management plan and environmental policy. This was completed to a very high standard.

The whole experience has been a very positive experience for the company. Our intern’s knowledge and skills exceeded our expectations and she contributed considerably to our new ESG, Sustainability and Impact initiative. With her input we have completed our Scope 1 and 2 GHG inventory calculations. I would highly recommend the Green Consultants Scheme, we found it very valuable.”

Student Case Study – Bioregional  

Name of Student:  Lauren Allington

Degree Subject: BA Geography with European Study

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

Company Name: Bioregional

Job Title: One Planet Living Intern

Description Of Company: Bioregional was founded as a charity and social enterprise in 1994 by Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai, two environmental entrepreneurs based in South London. We provide a range of sustainability consultancy services that make it easier for people to live sustainable lives within the planet’s boundaries by helping major developers create pioneering eco-communities and supporting businesses, including retailers, to create sustainable products and services.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key role was to support the One Planet Living team in developing a series of online resources available for Bioregional staff and Local Authorities regarding sustainability actions and initiatives across the world. I was also available to assist with wider research and admin projects, as well as contribute to discussions regarding the inclusivity of sustainability.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

I produced six complete case studies covering a range of sustainability actions (zero carbon, zero waste, materials and products), a library of 38 case study summaries. These will be added to and used by Bioregional in a series of seminars and will later be available for Local Authorities to use. I also summarised a selection of these case studies in a blog post published on the organisations website. I also produced a research document about sustainability schemes in schools and catalogued the One Planet Living mailing list.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship? 

I was asked to summarize my most important findings in a blog post to be published on the organisations website. I approached this task by reviewing the research I had already done, long listing and then shortlisting the case studies based on the brief for the blog. I then crafted a blog post by summarizing the case studies, highlighting the main features and providing context, as well as writing in the ‘voice’ of the organisation. The final blog post was reviewed by the communications team, who asked me to reduce the word count, which I did successfully. The final post was proofread and adapted by the comms team before being posted online with credit given to me. The post was also advertised on LinkedIn, receiving multiple positive comments and likes.

What did not go so well on your internship? How did you overcome any challenges?

I initially struggled to always find the most accurate information for the case studies. I overcame this by reading more technical and policy-based documents, as well as undertaking active research by contacting organisations directly to find out the appropriate information.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Decision Making
  • Researching
  • Time and Work Load Management

Attributes Developed:

  • Initiative
  • Perseverance
  • Professionalism
  • Confidence
  • Motivation

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

“The A2I scheme enabled me to do a really interesting, meaningful and educational internship at a fantastic organisation that would have otherwise been unable to welcome me. I am really happy with the time I spent at Bioregional, especially with the work I produced and the opportunities to speak to professionals.”

Student Case Study: The Rock Pool Project

Name of Student:  Eleanor Stanton

Degree Subject: BSC Marine Biology – Cornwall

Job Title:  Digital Development Intern (Rock Pooling Platform)

Company Name:  The Rock Pool Project

Type of Internship: Access to Internships (A2I)

Description of Company: We are a social enterprise that encourages people of all ages to discover the incredible marine life found around our beautiful coast. Our expert marine biologists offer bespoke private rockpool safaris, educational group field trips and public beach events.

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

My key duties included working closely with the project leader to run events. I spoke to members of the public about what the project does and helped attendees to identify and record species they found. I also worked a lot on the project website, social media and newsletters, and coordinated other staff members and volunteers.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?

I produced were social media posts, newsletters and updating the website, including targeting a new demographic through Instagram.

What was your biggest achievement on your internship?

On one event I was running with the project leader his car got stuck, and while he was dealing with that I took over running the event. I had to take a register of all the children attending (it was a kids event in the school holidays), and then talk to them about beach awareness and safety, before teaching them how to use the devices we use to record species we find. I then ran the first half of the event myself, helping them to find and identify species and record them in a useable manner. The result was that the event ran smoothly despite the major car issue.

What did not go so well on your internship? How did you overcome any challenges?

My main challenge was having to learn quickly on the ground how to identify species and talk about them to the public. I am quite shy normally, so being forced to interact with and educate others was a struggle at times but it is definitely a challenge I am overcoming,

Skills Learnt 

  • Ability to Work Under Pressure
  • Organisation
  • Time and Work Load Management
  • Strategic Planning
  • Focus on Goals and Outcomes

Attributes Developed 

  • Logical thinking
  • Creative thinking
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

“My internship experience was incredibly valuable as it gave me experience in the marine field, working with experts in the subject I am interested in. I was able to gain lots of knowledge on the UK’s coastal wildlife as well as transferrable skills such as teamwork and communication, which will be useful to me wherever I end up in the future.”