Meet our staff: Lederman Trainee Abi Haidemenos

Sussex Wildlife Trust has been working in partnership with the Leysdown Conservation Trust to deliver the Vera Dalley Lederman Scholarship since 2016. Set up in memory of Dr Vera Dalley Lederman in 2012, the Trust aims to provide training, support, and experience to equip trainees with the skills required to go on and develop a career in nature conservation.

Emma Chaplin caught up with one of our new Lederman Trainees, Abi Haidemenos

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m from Leicester via Bristol and I’ve spent most of my working life working with young people around mental health. While I was doing this work in inner-city Bristol I was also getting out to the outskirts to volunteer with the Avon Wildlife Trust, and the more time I spent there, the more I wanted to dedicate all my time to working directly with nature. I’m still really passionate about young people’s mental health and my aim is to be able to support young people to get out into nature through conservation work. Outside of natural history and conservation, I’m interested in prehistory (I absolutely love prehistoric art!), photography, Leicester City Football Club, ramen, long distance footpaths, and lots of creative bits, like making strange things from clay, lino cutting, doodling etc.

Why did you apply?

I thought the opportunity was too good to pass up! There is so much scope to learn in the traineeship it felt like I would be able to expand my knowledge and experience hugely within the year, meet lots of new people within the conservation sector, and work across a huge number of the Sussex reserves. I love the volunteering experience I have had with other Wildlife Trusts and local authorities, so getting to do this work every day is really my dream come true.

How are you finding it so far?

I’m pinching myself at how lucky I feel to be living and working in such a beautiful part of the world. We’ve already been working with volunteers at Ditchling Beacon, listened to Nightingales, met the new goats at Butcherlands Farm, seen a Black Adder at Levin Down, and met most of our colleagues at a full staff meeting; and we are only a week into our traineeship!

Where are your favourite wild places/species of wildlife in Sussex so far?

I am new to Sussex and I have so much to explore, but so far I have loved watching Buzzards and Crows fight it out over Ditchling Beacon, seeing Twayblades and Early Purple Orchids popping up around different reserves, and watching a Minotaur Beetle create their nest in my back garden. I’ve walked and cycled some beautiful routes along the Sussex Border Path and the Forest Way and I’m really excited to keep exploring. One of my aims for this year is to see/hear a Nightjar, so watch this space.

What are you most looking forward to this year?

Working with the grazing animals (particularly the lovely goats!), and doing some collaborative work with the Youth Rangers at The Deneway nature reserve. Just learning more about local species and getting to visit all of the reserves for the first time feels like a huge privilege and working physically to support the biodiversity of the sites is really exciting.