{"id":265,"date":"2024-03-11T15:09:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T15:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/gses\/?p=265"},"modified":"2024-03-11T15:09:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T15:09:46","slug":"meet-our-alumni-naomi-beth-dixon-msc-sustainable-development-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/gses\/2024\/03\/11\/meet-our-alumni-naomi-beth-dixon-msc-sustainable-development-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet our Alumni: Naomi-Beth Dixon, MSc Sustainable Development, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Our world-leading environment and sustainability research underpins a wide range of postgraduate programmes. In our\u00a0<strong>Meet our Alumni<\/strong>\u00a0series we hear from graduates of our MSc courses within the Graduate School of Environment and Sustainability and learn about their experiences at the University of Exeter, Cornwall. Today we hear from Naomi-Beth Dixon who graduated from our <\/em>MSc Sustainable Development <em>course.<strong>\u00a0Naomi-Beth went on to become a Freshwater Lead Advisor with Natural England. <\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Country:<\/strong>\u00a0United Kingdom<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sector:\u00a0<\/strong>Government<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Job title:<\/strong>\u00a0Freshwater Lead Adviser<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Subject of study:\u00a0<\/strong>MSc Sustainable Development<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Year of graduation:<\/strong>\u00a02020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Current Employer\/Organisation Name<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Natural England<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I graduated from Exeter in 2020 and managed to secure a role with Natural England in the same year. Initially I was a Lead Adviser in the Sustainable Development team, advising local planning authorities and other stakeholders on the impact of development on protected habitats. In 2022 I was successful in securing a role in the small freshwater team. My current role involves advising authorities, organisations and individuals on the conservation and enhancement of freshwater biodiversity, with a particular focus on designated and habitats sites across Devon and Cornwall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to my Sustainable Development MSc I worked with Scottish Water as a Water Quality Regulatory Analyst, and had focussed my Earth Science BSc on hydrology. As Freshwater Lead Adviser I enjoy being able to specialise in a field I find interesting, whilst having a dynamic role that takes me all over Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In addition to the statutory role in providing advice to water companies and other authorities, I also have the opportunity to work with bodies such as Westcountry Rivers Trust and the Wildlife Trust, to support freshwater habitat restoration proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As a \u2018mature\u2019 student I didn\u2019t join any societies or clubs, however I made a fantastic group of friends who I remain very close with today. As an adult it\u2019s not that easy to make lasting friendships, but my time at Exeter proved an exception to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I enjoyed the sheer variety of subjects I could cover \u2013 for me it was a creative free for all. As long as I had a focus on sustainability, I was able to explore any topic that I wanted. I found it very fulfilling and it certainly helped me explore the complexity of sustainability in a much broader way than I\u2019d have been able had I not studied the MSc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What did you enjoy most about studying here?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The staff, the location (Falmouth and Penryn), the support, the facilities, the people I met, the fired breakfasts\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did you choose to study at Exeter?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Location \u2013 I had decided to move to Falmouth and was very happy to find a course I wanted to study at such a great campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I&nbsp;learned to think about a specific, scientific subject in a very broad way, to consider impacts, feedbacks and differing opinions before making a judgement. This is a very useful skill to have developed for my current career, in which I have to balance public interest over habitat protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t worry that you might not have the \u2018correct\u2019 experience. The way I\u2019ve written it above it sounds like my path to my current career was very linear \u2013 it wasn\u2019t! What isn\u2019t included is the 10 years working in retail, the fear of quitting a \u2018good\u2019 job to go back to school, the stress of applying for roles and figuring out how to act in specific interviews. My advice would be to seek advice at all turns \u2013 contact the person who has the job you want, be inquisitive. Be aware that interview processes can differ and can be a bit like getting a dance routine down \u2013 if it says it\u2019s in STAR format, make sure you answer in STAR format! Keep interested in contemporary discussions about the field you\u2019re interested in, check out Eventbrite for talks and workshops to keep you knowledge up to date. Don\u2019t plan on being rich, and enjoy working with people who work in a field because they\u2019re passionate about it despite the low wages. Don\u2019t worry too much about having a specialism \u2013 knowing a little about a lot is important in sustainability and in industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are your plans for the future?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For the moment continue in my current role, hopefully securing a Senior position. I\u2019d like to take a sabbatical to travel and work abroad before I\u2019m too old for the visa, and then would like to return and further my knowledge and experience in freshwater protection and restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>The Graduate School of Environment and Sustainability brings together experts from across the spectrum of earth and life sciences, engineering, humanities, social sciences and business. Our programmes are all designed with a focus on developing solutions to global challenges and creating a better future for our planet and its people.<\/em>\u00a0<em>Help lead a global Greener, Healthier and Fairer revolution by studying one of our world-leading, interdisciplinary Masters degrees here at the University of Exeter, Cornwall.<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.exeter.ac.uk\/study\/gses\/\"><strong><em>See our Masters programmes here<\/em><\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our world-leading environment and sustainability research underpins a wide range of postgraduate programmes. In our\u00a0Meet our Alumni\u00a0series we hear from graduates of our MSc courses [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":779,"featured_media":267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15],"tags":[5,25,17,11],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Meet our Alumni: Naomi-Beth Dixon, MSc Sustainable Development, 2020 - Graduate School of Environment &amp; Sustainability Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/gses\/2024\/03\/11\/meet-our-alumni-naomi-beth-dixon-msc-sustainable-development-2020\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet our Alumni: Naomi-Beth Dixon, MSc Sustainable Development, 2020 - Graduate School of Environment &amp; Sustainability Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our world-leading environment and sustainability research underpins a wide range of postgraduate programmes. 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