South Africa

''During my time at VHL I once had the opportunity to go to South Africa and I immediately fell in love with the country. When an opportunity arose to go there again I knew at once that this was what I had to do. Now I had to find a project that was feasible within the 3 months’ time frame and that could fit into the 4000 word limit- really difficult I can tell you."

Amazing beauty

"I eventually decided to look at the Wildebeest behaviour in response to human disturbance. Exited as I was I went to South Africa and settled in to start my pilot. No wildebeest in sight for two full weeks! Stress kicked in and with a little help of my supervisor I was able to change my topic to include other animals as well. For my research I drove, walked and cycled through an African Nature reserve and was able to witness the amazing beauty of South Africa. Now I am back in the UK and working on my report. I realise now that I truly love what I do - even the data analysis."

Horses

"During my study I often doubted my choice for this bachelor degree and even though I do not work with horses now, I still realised that I have gained a lot of skills at VHL that come in very handy in many aspects of my current studies and life. Management and Conservation go hand in hand.” As a next step, Lieke is now looking for a PhD position in Australia to become a researcher in the field of conservation - preferable with expertise in wild equine behaviour and a focus on Przewalski horses and/or brumby’s.''