Kirstin Gaffney’s Placement Report

During my placement with Creative Tuition Collective, I worked as Project Lead on the Opening Up the Environmental NERC-funded project. The project focused on evaluating a “people like me” intervention designed to promote accessibility and diversity in environmental sciences through school outreach. I coordinated the development and delivery of outreach activities, which involved managing communication across the team, helping to design workshops, co-delivering sessions in schools, and supporting organisation and evaluation across the project.

The placement gave me the opportunity to develop a wide range of transferable skills. I received formal training in safeguarding and risk assessment, EDI and decolonising science, workshop design and presentation deliver, as well as one-to-one training in management and leadership. Designing and delivering workshops for school students helped me strengthen my science communication skills, particularly in making content engaging and accessible. I also developed my organisational skills through managing timelines, coordinating with external partners such as schools and museums, and adapting quickly to changing circumstances.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the placement was seeing the impact of the outreach activities. It was very motivating to observe students engaging with the workshops and to see how the sessions could build confidence and spark interest in careers in environmental science.