I am an Environmental Science student at the University of York, currently undertaking a placement year with LEAP. As my degree is so broad, I found it hard to know where I wanted to go with it after I graduated. I chose to do a placement year to get an insight into the professional workplace and help decide what career path I wanted to go down. LEAP was an obvious choice for me- as a small company you can get involved with every aspect, from site work, to helping with the final report. This has allowed me to build my knowledge around the industry and helped to determine what interests me and what I want to do after I graduate.

As an undergraduate at LEAP, I have had the opportunity to go to a variety of different sites and carry out lots of fieldwork including gas monitoring, soil and rock logging/sampling, water sampling, and constructing river profiles. I quickly gained confidence in my work and felt like a valued member of the team due to the supportive and friendly nature of everyone at LEAP. I have gained lots of invaluable skills and knowledge during my time at LEAP which will set me up well for my future career.