RSPB NI: Creating Access to Nature with Laura Kerr
After completing her Master’s degree during the pandemic, Laura, 26 was eager to break into the environmental sector. Trying to do this whilst being in an extended period of autistic burnout proved to be difficult and massively knocked her confidence. Now as the Access to Nature Project Assistant at the RSPB Belfast’s Window on Wildlife nature reserve, Laura is building back her confidence in a role focused on making nature accessible to people like her.
Despite multiple qualifications and years of unpaid volunteering experience, Laura found that not only were most roles in the sector inaccessible to her as an autistic person, but so was the recruitment process, as interviews and communicating with new people can be especially challenging.
When Laura came across the Access to Nature role, created through New to Nature, it sounded like it was made just for her! The job combines her passion for conservation with her desire to make the environmental sector more diverse. She also felt empowered to apply as RSPB had made an effort to make their job description inclusive and Laura was confident that accommodations would gladly be given to her.
In the role, Laura gets to experience a range of RSPB’s work. As well as practical conservation and visitor experience, Laura is also researching ways to make the reserve more neurodivergent-friendly. She is developing a ‘sensory space’ at the reserve – a place where anyone can go to decompress or get a bit of quiet in a private sensory-friendly environment. The space can be used by anyone but aimed at reducing potential barriers to neurodivergent visitors and help create a better and more accessible visitor experience. On top of this, Laura has been creating a video guide for the reserve that is aimed at visitors with accessibility needs such as neurodiversity. She is also developing a series of ‘quick guides’ for RSPB staff and volunteers that clearly explains different concepts about neurodiversity in an accessible format to raise awareness within the organisation itself. This includes guides on best practice for recruiting and managing neurodivergent employees.
has particularly enjoyed the chance to mentor young people and teach them about wildlife. This includes a group of 6th form student researchers and their university student mentors conducting research on tern productivity, and a second group of placement students developing a game for children visiting the reserve.
Laura has been able to thrive in a supportive work environment that provides her with reasonable adjustments, such as working flexible hours, working from home two days a week, and dedicated hours of ‘no-contact’ time to help with focus and productivity. Beyond the placement, Laura hopes to continue working in the conservation sector, where she has ambitions to combine her new-found knowledge and lived experience to continue making nature more accessible for all.
Laura said:
“Creating roles that have a person’s experiences like this at the core not only creates new job opportunities for underrepresented groups, but it helps the organisation to learn and grow from their experiences.
“This was the first job I’ve had where my neurodiversity was actually an asset and not something that I had to cover up or something that made me less employable. Not only is the job accessible to me, the placement is centred around making nature more accessible to people like me.
“It has been very helpful to have a network of other trainees to connect with and provide peer support. It’s great to have others who are going through the exact same thing and who are also ‘new to nature’.”