Be prepared for cooler weather, long hikes, and manual labour. I'm not trying to scare anyone away, I just want everyone who is interested to be prepared so bring a comfortable pair of hiking boots. I think this year's program was unlike any other where we worked a lot in bogs or spraying for giant hogweed for example. This program does give you a good idea what it will be like to work in the ecology field from the several nature reserves visited and hands on activities. One day we went bird ringing (or bird banding in the US and my personal favourite thing out of the entire trip) and on other day trip we did electrofishing.
The staff here is incredibly friendly, relaxed, and will do anything they can to make the program more enjoyable for you. They're also extremely knowledgeable in their respected fields and are qualified to work somewhere more posh than the SRUC Oatridge campus. Things are a bit unorganized at times, but you will always be in for a good time. You will receive two assessments where you will get multiple chances to correct mistakes as well.
From the social aspect things are similar, but different in others. The Oatridge campus is located about a 20-30 minute walk to Broxburn. The Scottish locals are just as friendly as the staff and are easy to strike a conversation with.
If you are feeling adventurous, take an overnight trip to Aviemore and hike to the top of Cairngorm Mountain. It has a spectacular view! When you're there you can go from 32 degrees at the top of the mountain to 70s at the lake walking back from the mountain to Aviemore. We stayed at the SYHA hostel and would recommend staying there...it's only £23 a night for one adult.
And if you find yourself in Sterling looking for dinner there is an amazing Indian restaurant called Maharaja.
What would you improve about this program?
The worst thing about the program was the lack of communication and control of one of the lecturers. Again, you will always be in for an interesting and enjoyable experience.
Response from Adelante Abroad
Dear Payton, thank you very much for your detailed review as well as all the positive bullet points. To the helpful points that we can improve on: I spoke with the Environment Team Leader (who heads up our Ecology program in Scotland) to clarify the schedule changes. The staff put their heads together and built what they thought were better visits, practical and class work combinations, but neglected to advise everyone in a timely manner. I’m sure there were apologies at the time and we apologize again for those last minute changes. The feedback from these changes from your group was definitely good, so next year all will be incorporated into the program schedule well in advance. We have met with the catering manager too, and have confirmed a healthy, better balanced diet for all students in this program... independent of their dietary needs (e.g. vegetarians or kosher, for example). In regards to taxi services: if students call out for taxi services out to campus then do not come out to redeem requested services, it is unlikely taxi drivers will come out again. This is apparently what happened. The solution is to run taxi request services through the campus housing office and we will highlight this in Orientation next year. Thank you again for your excellent detail; it helps make the program better for future Ecology Program students!