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Media training? Yes indeed!

By on November 15, 2012 in EDGE Fellows, EDGE Updates, News, Opinion
Course participants Jacob and Sylvanna hard at work

It’s important that conservationists learn media skills so that they can effectively communicate their work to the general public. With this in mind, Sabine Kooijman explains how the EDGE Conservation Tools training course has helped her learn some important lessons…

 Lots of my fellow course participants have been talking about statistics. Thanks to the patience and perseverance of our lecturer Dr. Raj Amin, by the end of the week our poor little brains finally grasped the principles and concepts behind the subject. It’s been hard work, but I appreciate the importance of what we’ve learnt, and how useful applying this knowledge is going to be for us as scientists in the future. I can actually feel the growing sense of achievement among all the participants, and it’s a positive feeling.

But it hasn’t all been brain busting exercises! We had great afternoon working with Craig and Dave on media training activities. Despite the fact that I managed to make myself look a little (just a little) silly (and I know some will never let me forget it!), we had a great laugh, and more importantly I learnt a lot. When being interviewed and under pressure, it is so easy to miss the obvious and let yourself get distracted. It opened my eyes to the importance of being prepared, to have a clear idea of my objectives and to always make sure I get my point across. INDEED (an inside joke!), it is one practical exercise I can apply to many areas of my life.

Bluespotted ribbontail stingray

Another personal highlight for me was hearing the other participants’ presentations about their work and EDGE Fellowship projects. I really, really enjoyed each and every one of these. Caleb, Nikita and Diorene (to name but a few) really inspired and motivated me to play my part and make my own difference in this world… and to pursue my underwater photography course. Nikita, watch this space!

The EDGE Conservation Tools training course forms part of the EDGE Fellowship programme – to learn more click HERE