Zoology Katie Connolly

My Zoology Experience - Katie Connolly

I initially interested in UCD due to the flexibility of the Science course. In UCD Science with the common entry system, you really have the freedom to shape your degree the way you’d like it. Then, after coming to the UCD Open Day I fell in love with the atmosphere on campus and the constantly booming student life. I selected Zoology at the end of second year as the lecturers were so helpful and engaging, and there were plenty of opportunities to get hands-on experience at home and abroad.

What I’ve enjoyed most until are the small class sizes, as you can avail of more one-on-one conversations with lecturers, as well as the field trips where you can really apply your learning in the field. While in UCD I’ve been heavily involved in societies, both with the Science Society and also with many of the performing societies such as Musical Society, Dance Society and Dram Society. Engaging with clubs and societies alongside my studies was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I’ve made lifelong friends and memories in the process. I would love to continue on in the research field for a few years, and eventually settle into education. It’s always been a dream of mine to help build up and inspire the next generations of young scientists.

Internship Experience
During my undergraduate course, I was able to complete an internship.  My internship was part of the Crawford Hayes Bursary in the summer before my final year. It was a 4-week placement in Phoenix Park working on an animal behaviour study related to the deer population. My day-to-day consisted of observing the herd as part of a research team and noting information about their numbers and behaviour to add to the database, notably, which fawns were interacting with which does (with the aim of pairing mothers with their children). The greatest benefit of this was gaining hands-on experience in the field, while also networking with other researchers/students in the area.

Field Trips
My first field trip abroad was part of an optional third year module, "Biogeography and Field Biology". We spent a week on the south coast of Spain, performing field surveys and getting acquainted with the local wildlife. We learned a range of methods of studying an ecosystem, and gathered data that would allow us to compare the ecological landscape of Spain to that of Ireland. The greatest benefit was building a strong relationship with each other and our lecturers, as well as getting hands-on experience devising and conducting a research question of our own choosing.

One of the trips abroad that we went on was a trip to a reservation in Central America as part of an optional 4th year module, Tropical Field Ecology. We spent 2 weeks in the rainforest in Costa Rica, learning about the local biodiversity as well as various methods of data collection such as electrofishing, radio telemetry, lizard fishing, butterfly and bee trapping, and bat/bird surveys. We also gained hands-on experience maintaining data sheets and identifying a number of tropical species. The biggest benefits of this were a renewed interest in our chosen field, a more intimate understanding of the biodiversity in tropical hot spots and building much stronger relationships with our course mates.