Laura
Access to Nature Project Assistant
Age - 26
After completing her Masters degree during the pandemic, Laura, 26, was eager to break into the environmental sector. Trying to do this whilst being in an extended period of autistic burnout proved to be difficult and massively knocked her confidence.
As the Access to Nature Project Assistant at the RSPB Belfast’s Window on Wildlife nature reserve, Laura was able to build back her confidence in a role focused on making nature accessible to people like her.
Despite multiple qualifications and years of unpaid volunteering experience, Laura found that not only were most roles in the sector inaccessible to her as an autistic person, but so was the recruitment process, as interviews and communicating with new people can be especially challenging.
When Laura came across the Access to Nature role, created through New to Nature, it sounded like it was made just for her! The job combined her passion for conservation with her desire to make the environmental sector more diverse. She also felt empowered to apply as RSPB had made an effort to make their job description inclusive and Laura was confident that accommodations would gladly be given to her.
In the role, Laura got to experience a range of RSPB’s work. As well as practical conservation and welcoming visitors, Laura also did research on ways to make the reserve more neurodivergent-friendly. She particularly enjoyed getting to mentor a group of student researchers and teach them about wildlife and scientific research. Laura was able to thrive in a supportive work environment that provided her with reasonable adjustments, such as working flexible hours.
“This was the first job I’ve had where my neurodiversity was actually an asset and not something that I had to cover up or something that made me less employable. Not only is the job accessible to me, the placement is centred around making nature more accessible to people like me.”
Beyond New to Nature, Laura hopes to continue working in the conservation sector, where she has ambitions to combine her new-found knowledge and lived experience to continue making nature more accessible for all.
Following the end of her placement, Laura used her new skills to secure another role with the RSPB as a temporary Visitor Experience Assistant, where she continues to apply the knowledge of accessibility gained through her placement to ensure an accessible space, and create and support volunteer roles for neurodivergent people.
Laura said:
“Creating roles that have a person’s experiences like this at the core not only creates new job opportunities for underrepresented groups, but it helps the organisation to learn and grow from their experiences.
“It has been very helpful to have a network of other trainees to connect with and provide peer support. It’s great to have others who are going through the exact same thing and who are also ‘new to nature’.”
