Higher Education newsletter

We hope to welcome you here soon but, in the meantime, please look on the College website for all the latest news, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or watch our videos.

Come to our next Open Day!

The next campus Open Day will be a on Wednesday 9 April.

Run from 10.30am to 3pm, the University-Level Open Days give prospective students and guests the perfect opportunity to find out more about what's on offer at Writtle College.

Throughout the day you will have the opportunity to learn all about Writtle College, meet course tutors, tour the campus with current students, discover student life at Writtle College, and learn about the support available to students. You are welcome to bring your parents.

Pre-event registration is required, to avoid disappointment. To register, please contact Admissions on 01245 424200, email openday@writtle.ac.uk, or apply online on the link below.

Writtle College scientist to present her research to MPs

Dr Zoe Barker will present her research to MPs after being shortlisted in a major national competition to showcase the country's best young researchers.

Zoe and the University of Essex's Dr Jorge Vazquez will present their 'cow tracking' research to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges as part of the SET for Britain competition on Monday 17 March.

They are part of the team using wireless tracking sensors and cutting-edge mathematical techniques to develop a new automated early warning system for welfare problems such as lameness and mastitis in dairy cows.

Jorge and Zoe were shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to appear in Parliament and will compete against 59 other exhibitors in their category.

Zoe, 35, who is originally from Sheffield but now lives in Maldon, Essex, is a research assistant at Writtle College and a specialist in lameness in UK dairy cattle. She said: “Balancing the welfare needs of animals with the need to ensure food security both within the UK and globally is a real challenge. SET for Britain provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how animal science research is embracing new technologies and techniques and developing practical solutions which farmers can use to address these challenges.�

Jorge and Zoe's research has been entered into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences session of the competition, which will end in a gold, silver and bronze prize-giving ceremony.

Foals born at Writtle College’s Lordships Stud named after birds!

Three foals have been born at Writtle College’s Lordships Stud so far this season with another two expected over the coming weeks.

The theme for the names of the foals was put to the student vote with famous sports people and Shakespeare’s characters among the options but ‘birds’ was the clear winner.

World Match, also known as Keira, gave birth to Emu, a chestnut filly by the stallion Elroom, on 1 March. Creole had a black/grey filly named Oriole at 1am on 10 March by the stallion Odermus R. Finally, Mizz Southgate foaled a chestnut filly Lori at 9pm also on 10 March by the stallion Libra K.

There are two more Writtle College foals expected this year:
• Lordships Lollipop, also known as Maddie, is in foal to Wolkenderry and due on 21 April.
• Nether Another, also known as Penny, is in foal to Wooldlander Wavavoom and is due on Monday 5 May.

Amy Mills, Lecturer in Equine Science at Writtle College, said: “The foals are doing well and represent some of the smartest, quality horses we have produced in recent years. We are incredibly pleased with all three and are looking forward to the last two. We spent a lot of time selecting stallions last year and are thrilled that the end result is as good as we had hoped!

“The students choose the theme for the naming of the foals – we have had Greek gods and goddesses as well as chocolate before but this time it is birds. They have to use the first letter of the stallion's name, hence the names Emu, Oriole and Lori. All foals this year belong to the College, so the students have had free rein on name choices! We will announce the registered names of the foals, which will include the ‘Lordships’ prefix shortly.

“We are looking forward to showcasing this year’s crop at the BEF Young Horse Evaluations to be hosted at the College’s Equine Training and Development Centre in the summer. Students will assist us with this and we are hoping for some high scores again.�

• The BEF Futurity evaluation will be hosted at the Equine Training and Development Centre at Writtle College on 14 August 2014. The horse evaluation programme aims to identify the British-bred sport horses of the future.

Kestrel nesting box installed at Writtle College

Writtle College has joined forces with the Essex Birdwatching Society and local birder Steve Baines to help local birdlife.

One species which has suffered recently is the Kestrel and Steve joined College lecturer Alan Roscoe to install the first Kestrel nesting box on the College estate.

“Compared to our Barn Owl boxes, these are tiny, but it is good to have an expert like Steve come along and help us out,� said Alan.

The College is looking to improve the habitats around its farm and the College's farm manager, Katie Evans, added: “There is no reason why farms cannot be commercially successful and have thriving wildlife at the same time so we are happy to support this initiative.�
Photo: Tina Phillips

26 Writtle College Sports students become softball and baseball coaches

Twenty-six Writtle College Sports students have become softball and baseball coaches in one of the largest coaching courses ever run in the UK for the sport.

The Level 1 coaching sessions were run by British Softball UK and supported by Redbacks Baseball & Softball especially for the Sports and Exercise Performance degree students at the College.

The influx of new coaches, who hope to complete the Level 2 coaching qualification soon, promises to drive on development of the sport in the region.

Mark Walker, Sports Lecturer at the College who is already a softball coach but qualified on the day, said: “The degree here at Writtle College is designed to give students the skills they need to thrive in the exciting Sports industry. By giving these students the opportunity to become softball and baseball coaches, we hope they will become even more employable and will contribute to promoting and developing this sport further.�

Phil Candice, Softball Development Coordinator for the Redbacks, said: “We'll now look to support finding places for these coaches to further their skills and experience and help to run more outreach into the local community and get more people playing. Hopefully these new guys and girls will find opportunities to further their understanding of softball and help us start running leagues and tournaments around Essex and East Anglia as they go off to start their professional careers.�

Director of University of Oxford Botanic Garden gives horticulture lecture

The director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum gave the penultimate lecture in this year's horticulture series at Writtle College.

Timothy Walker visited on 4 March to speak about the role of the botanic gardens in plant conservation.

Timothy joined the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in 1980 as a trainee gardener and he is currently the Director or Horti Praefectus. He is a lecturer in Plant Conservation at Somerville College Oxford and Pembroke College Oxford, a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London and presented a three-part televisual history of Botany on BBC4.

He said: “My post involves a mixture of teaching, administration, begging and curating the NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens) national collection of euphorbias but no gardening - this happens at weekends in my wife's garden if allowed.

“It was lovely to return to East Anglia because Essex is the homeland of my maternal genes and it seems that horticultural hearts beat just a bit harder east of the M11.�

Brainchild of former horticulture student James Hearsum, the lecture series is now in its ninth year. Organised by Greg Allen, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Studies at the College with a team of first, second and third year students, all the proceeds of the lecture series go to the Students' Union and are used to provide travel bursaries to some of the most important gardens.

The series will close with Troy Scott-Smith, Head Gardener at Sissinghurst Castle, Kent, on Tuesday 6 May.

Students attend prestigious food event – and meet HRH The Princess Royal

A group of students at Writtle College have met HRH The Princess Royal at one of the biggest food industry events.

The City Food Lecture is delivered every year by a leading figure in the British food business who is invited to speak about the issues they regard as most important in shaping the way food is produced, distributed, marketed, sold and consumed.

Held in the Great Hall at the Capital's prestigious Guildhall, the event is organised by seven City of London livery companies whose roots are in the food industry.

Among those at the invitation-only event were Writtle College's Andrew Bissmire, who is studying an MSc Postharvest Technology, BSc Animal Science student Sarah Farnham and BSc Agriculture students Brian Smyth and Lucy King.

Lecturers Nieky Van Veggel, Dr Chris Bishop and Henry Matthews as well as governor Chris Newenham also attended the over-subscribed event.

Charles Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of leading wholesaler Booker, delivered this year’s lecture, entitled ‘Growth Outside the Supermarkets’.

Dr Chris Bishop, Reader in Postharvest Technology, said: “This was an excellent opportunity for the students to appreciate just how big the food industry is, ranging from companies with turnovers in billions of pounds to small niche suppliers.�

The students went to the event after visiting the Sainsbury's store support centre in Holborn. Brian, who is also the College's Students' Union President, said: “This was an exceptional experience from a student's point of view to meet and chat with heads of multinational companies in the food industry, discussing the future importance of food production and the numerous graduate programmes open to students studying in this sector."

Writtle College academic’s worldwide conservation work

A Writtle College academic is working to establish a large UNESCO World Heritage reserve across the Altai mountain region straddling the border between Russia and Kazakhstan.

The proposed site is almost 1.6 million hectares of mountain landscape rich in both biodiversity and cultural heritage - and is one of the best sites in the world for snow leopard.

Dr Peter Hobson, Principal Lecturer in biodiversity conservation, is collaborating with a professional team of staff from the two countries. He has made several visits to the Altai Mountains in the southern region of Siberia to work on the major project, which involves producing a management plan and nomination application for a UNESCO World Heritage Trans-boundary Biosphere Reserve.

He said: “This is truly a unique landscape of mixed old growth forest, steppe, glacial lakes and traditional range land. Many communities continue to live here as they have done for centuries.�

The Centre for Econics and Ecosystem Management, which Peter established with Co-Director Professor Pierre Ibisch from Eberswalde University, Germany, in 2011, is contracted by the German Ministry for Environment BfN to steer the project.

Simultaneously, Peter, together with colleagues from the Centre for Econics, is working on a two-year project, also funded by BfN, to register the best examples of old growth beech forest areas across Europe as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Peter is responsible for selecting appropriate sites within the Atlantic zone of Europe, which includes the UK, parts of Denmark, Belgium, France and southern Sweden.

The international conservation work, carried out by Peter and academic staff at the Centre for Econics, together with their on-going research on forest ecosystems and biodiversity, has prompted organisers of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations to invite Peter to present some of the research findings at the 2014 XXIV World Congress to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

This year, Peter and Professor Ibisch are also meeting with a team of professional staff from both South and North Korea to discuss the potential for developing a new trans-boundary national park between the two countries.

Read more about Peter's work on our website or the link below.

Floristry lecturer to return to Korea

Senior Floristry Lecturer and Course Manager Julia Ryde will visit Korea this month to promote Floristry courses offered at Writtle College.

Julia will hold demonstrations and workshops at various colleges, universities and private flower schools in Seoul with the aim of creating awareness about the College and sharing some aspects of UK and European design with Korean students. She will attend an education fair to meet with prospective students and have the opportunity to meet with her Korean alumni, which include graduates who, on their return to Korea, set up their own successful businesses, worked in hotel/retail florists or studied for a Masters.

The visit comes after she travelled to the country last November and her return is testament to the level of international interest in the undergraduate courses run at Writtle College.

She said: “There was a lot of interest in our Floristry courses last time I visited Korea – I think I met over 120 students, some beginners and some on recognised courses, some with English and some with very little. Students are particularly interested in finding out more about the degree and the demonstrations give us an opportunity to showcase the skills they will learn.�

Writtle College student wins national horticultural scholarship

A Writtle College student has won a top national horticultural scholarship worth £1,000.

Abimbola Oyelade has received a £1,000 student scholarship from the David Colegrave Foundation (DCF).

The postgraduate is one of only five students to be selected for the horticultural award from DCF, the horticultural charity for students, following a record number of applications from 15 colleges across the UK.

Abimbola is currently working towards his Masters in Horticulture (Crop Production) at Writtle College.

He said: "Through the David Colegrave Foundation scholarship, I will be able to focus on my education and put all my energy into doing well in my studies, which will make my goals and dreams a reality."

For more information on scholarships and bursaries available at Writtle College, click on the link below.

Writtle College sports lecturer gives endurance coaches technical insights

Ten endurance coaches from Essex Athletics Network clubs attended an expert presentation into how the body adapts to training with Writtle College sports lecturer Dr Greg Deacon.

The session, entitled 'Endurance training: how and why we adapt' outlined the respective contributions of lungs, blood, skeletal muscle and lactate to racing performance.

Greg, Course Scheme Manager for the Sports and Exercise Performance degree, emphasised the key importance of the use, delivery and efficient utilisation of oxygen, explaining that the pathway of oxygen from mouth to muscle is complex. He went on to explore how a thorough testing regime can monitor athletic progress.

The presentation stimulated a high degree of questioning from coaches who were clearly enthused by being exposed to new information or having their existing knowledge updated with recent research findings.

Network Activator Tony Benton said: “Greg has recently completed his PhD in Sports Science specialising in muscle oxygenation and blood flow during exercise and as an active runner with a Power of 10 profile he is expertly equipped to share his extensive and up to date knowledge with our coaches."

Greg said: "It was an excellent evening and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was really impressed with the enthusiasm and obvious understanding of those present and was glad that everybody went away with something to think about."

Writtle College runs heat of the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition

Writtle College has run a heat of the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition.

Students taking part had to answer 40 multiple choice questions, set by the Institute of Horticulture, on a wide range of horticulture topics.

The winner was Rosie Kippen, second year BSc (Hons) Horticulture student, who came second in the Writtle College heat last year. The 21-year-old will now go forward to the regional final on 20 March at Blooms of Bressingham, Diss.

BSc (Hons) Horticulture second year student Christopher King, 21, came second in the heat.

Jon Hayati, 23, from Aberdeen, who graduated from the BSc (Hons) Horticulture course last year and is now a Conservation postgraduate, came third in the heat for the second year running.

Sandra Nicholson, Senior Lecturer in Horticulture at the College, said: “Once again, we all had great fun taking part and testing our horticultural knowledge and we wish Rosie well in the regional final.�

A prestigious annual competition which attracts over 1,800 entrants each year, the national winner receives the Percy Thrower Travel Bursary, worth £2,000, provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society. This funds a horticultural tour anywhere in the world.