Francesca Aaskov

Experience

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  Riding for the Disabled Association

  Mar 2012 - Mar 2013

  Volunteer

  Led and taught disabled children aged 5-17 from disadvantaged backgrounds how to ride horses.Skills learned: Communication with children with various physical and mental disabilities.

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  Beaver Water World Zoo and Rescue Centre

  Jul 2016 - Aug 2016

  Volunteer

  Saw to the needs of a variety of animals including meerkats, lemurs, parrots and reptiles. Trained in the handling of bearded dragons, corn snakes and royal pythons and how to manage the interaction of the public with these animals. Skills learned: Reptile handling, public communications.

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  University of Exeter

  Nov 2016 - Apr 2017

  Sensory Ecology Internship: 75% in Professional Development Experience Module

  Responsible for quantifying crab colouration using Image-J to determine the degree to which their carapace matched their background, so the PhD student could analyse the influence of changes in water temperature and pH on their ability to camouflage. Learned how to operate Image-J, as well as how the evolution of colour and patterns in nature is measured and quantified. Skills learned: Image-J.

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  Exeter Student Ambassador Scheme

  Jan 2017 - May 2018

  Student Ambassador

  • Led campus and accommodation tours for groups of prospective students and parents. • Presented UCAS, Student Life and Access to Higher Education talks to year 10-12 students. • Managed the University of Exeter stand at college career fairs.

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  The Little Fireface Project

  Jun 2017 - Aug 2017

  Research Volunteer

  • Assisted with conserving the critically endangered Javan slow loris in an agroforest environment. • Led 6-hour behavioural observation shifts to monitor critically endangered Javan slow lorises in the local agroforest with local trackers. • Recorded loris behaviour including their movements, feeding behaviour and interactions. • Inputted the recorded data onto a central Excel database. • Surveyed the amphibians found in man-made ponds in the local agroforest landscape.

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  FXplore

  Sept 2017 - Jun 2018

  Co-President

  An independent society of students from the University of Exeter and Falmouth University, which helps students plan and execute their own research and media expeditions.

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  FXU Wild Doc Soc

  Sept 2017 - May 2018

  Secretary
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  Frontier / The Society for Environmental Exploration

  Nov 2018 - May 2019

  Research Officer

  • Led primate, sea turtle, bird, bat, amphibian and reptile, mammal tracking, and habitat surveys from a research camp in Costa Rica. • Checked camera traps regularly to monitor the mammal species found in the area. • Regularly collaborated with locals, assisting them with the fundraising for, and set up of their community turtle project, COPROT, often communicating across a language barrier. These included managing turtle hatchling releases, watching the turtle hatchery, and giving presentations to tourists about turtle threats and conservation. • Filmed and edited a video advert for COPROT for their social media and website. • Assisted with managing a camp of up to 26 people, coordinating with a team of 5 to 9 staff. • Managed volunteer feedback forms and sent them to head office, as well as pushing to implement changes suggested in those forms. • Managed the official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and organised weekly blogs for the project to keep up public engagement. Show less

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  RSPB

  Sept 2019 - Oct 2020

  Visitor Experience Officer - Bird Conservation Awareness

  • Worked to reduce bird disturbance through community outreach across Pagham Harbour and Medmerry, two wetland nature reserves in West Sussex. • Coordinated reserve management tasks within a small team of 6 staff members. • Regularly patrolled nesting and wintering sites to engage with visitors, ensure people are not entering the conservation areas and give directions to avoid disturbance. • Assisted with nest and fledgling counts for gull and tern colonies. • Created and placed educational and directional temporary signage around the reserve. • Managed RSPB Pagham Harbour’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, posting educational content and updates about the reserve. • Conducted activities in schools with the Education Team connecting children in Key Stage 1 with nature. • Created on-site outreach activities with a local dog behaviourist to promote responsible dog walking. Show less

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  BirdLife Malta

  Oct 2020 - Oct 2021

  Education Assistant

  • Created and delivered online nature story sessions for Kindergarten to Year 3 students to build appreciation for nature, raise awareness of environmental issues and promote eco-friendly habits. • Conducted administration work for Dinja Waħda, BirdLife Malta’s school programme, which is carried out by over 100 schools. This work included processing evidence of activities sent in by schools to allocate points for the annual Dinja Waħda awards, writing certificates, and organising the awards to be sent to schools.• Filmed and edited short films for Teach, Inspire and Protect (TIP) for use in promotion and teacher training. TIP is a collaboration with Maltese and international partners including the Ministry of Education, to inspire educators to use contemporary teaching approaches to connect early-years learners with nature. • Planned and executed events for Klabb Ħuttaff, BirdLife Malta’s child members, including an online bird feeder making workshop, a night-time nature walk to listen to nesting shearwaters and a Pokémon-themed scavenger hunt at a nature reserve.• Led monthly walks in collaboration with Walk and Talk, a local mental health charity, to help people to get outside, connect with nature, and to discuss their feelings in a safe space. • Held a children’s photography workshop for World Migratory Bird Day, demonstrating easy ways to become a better photographer without the use of expensive equipment.• Collaborated with Majjistral Park to create a giant yelkouan shearwater image from donated clothing as part of withNature2020, a worldwide art installation to mark the International Day of Biological Diversity. • Assisted with the creation of new sign language for ‘BANOFFEE’, an international project to make nature more accessible the hearing impaired by developing sign language for 60 common European bird species. Oversaw the official filming of the signs and information about the bird species, ensuring the descriptions were suitable. Show less

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  Costa Coffee

  Dec 2021 - Feb 2022

  Barista

  • Trained to make a variety of coffees, including lattes, cappuccinos, americanos, mochas and flat whites, along with a variety of cold drinks such as Frostinos. Had been learning cortados and macchiatos at the time of leaving. • Trained to operate a till in a busy, fast-paced environment. • Operated oven to warm food such as toasties and meal boxes. • Developed service skills through communicating with customers, answering their questions, and building a rapport with the regular patrons. • Worked closely with colleagues to deliver quality food and drink to customers, through delegating tasks, constantly communicating orders, and offering to assist each other wherever possible. • Regularly multitasked since the staff member managing the till and taking orders was also responsible for heating food and making cold drinks. Show less

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  Lifetime Lab

  Jan 2023 - Dec 2024

  STEM Workshop Facilitator

  Visit schools to carry out educational workshops, serving 366 primary schools across Cork City and County.Explorers Education Programme: • Seashore Safaris, taking school groups aged 8-12 years old to a local beach to go rock pooling. Discuss the changes in environment and wildlife found at different parts of the rocky shore, and facts about the animals the children find in the rockpools.Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland:• Carry out SEAI Junior and Senior School workshops. The junior workshop uses a puppet to explain different forms of energy and how it is transferred. The senior workshop consists of a discussion about fossil fuels, renewable energy sources, saving energy, and energy-related experiments.MathsWorks:• Students aged 8-12 work through maths-related puzzles and games to develop problem-solving skills and explore how maths can be fun and useful.House of Circuits:• Students aged 8-12 are taught about safety around electricity, how to construct electrical circuits and how to test conductors and insulators.LearnIt Lego:• Conduct Lego robotics workshops for wide rages 4-16. Working with Duplo, WeDo, and Machines and Mechanisms, the students are taught engineering and coding through the construction of various items, such as cars, boats, frogs, robotic hands, and cranes.• Assisted with the Analog Devices Primary School Robotics Competition, in which over 100 students from 32 schools across Co. Limerick competed.Old Cork Waterworks Experience:• Take responsibility for the day-to-day museum operations, including daily and weekly cashing up, monthly bank lodgements, social media posts, booking future school visits, and providing catering and technical support for conferences.• Welcome visitors and school groups to the museum, giving tours of the engine room including scripted interactions with video characters and activities with children. • Developed and delivered a one-day Halloween camp and a four-day Easter camp for children ages 6-12. Show less