Applied Conservation Genetics with Wildlife Forensics (Online Learning) MSc, PgDip (ICL), PgCert (ICL), PgProfDev postgraduate personal statement example

Personal statement example

Every coral that arrives at the aquatics department where I work comes with paperwork. Each label names the species, and every piece in a CITES-listed group should carry a permit reference. Unpacking a delivery last spring, I noticed that two fragments labelled as the same Acropora species looked noticeably different in growth form. I could not tell whether that was ordinary variation, a mislabel or something more serious, and nor could anyone else on shift. The supplier's documents were in order, so we sold them. That afternoon left me wanting to work in the field that can answer such questions with evidence rather than appearance. That is applied conservation genetics, particularly where it supports enforcement.

My degree in Zoology gave me a foundation in ecology, evolution and basic molecular methods. My final-year project used DNA barcoding to check the labelling of white fish sold in local supermarkets and takeaways. I extracted DNA from thirty-eight samples, amplified a region of the mitochondrial COI gene, and compared the sequences against reference records in the BOLD and GenBank databases. Most samples matched their labels. A handful were a closely related species sold under a more general name. The most useful part of the project was learning where the method stops being reliable. Degraded samples from fried products often failed to amplify. Some reference records were themselves poorly identified, and a high percentage match was not automatically proof of identity. I wrote a section of my report on how I set thresholds and recorded uncertain results. I now think that kind of caution matters as much as the laboratory work, especially if results might be used as evidence.

Since graduating I have worked full time in aquatics. Much of the job is routine: testing water, advising customers on stocking levels and keeping livestock healthy. I have also taken on checking incoming consignments against invoices and permits, which has taught me how the legal trade is documented and how much depends on traders identifying species correctly. Customers regularly ask whether an animal was captive-bred or wild-caught. I have become more careful about saying only what the paperwork actually supports. An online course would let me keep this job, which I value, while studying seriously.

To prepare, I have been reading Allendorf, Luikart and Aitken's Conservation and the Genetics of Populations. The chapters on effective population size and loss of heterozygosity in small populations changed how I think about captive breeding. Simply keeping a species alive is different from keeping it genetically viable. I have also taught myself basic sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree building in R, using my project data. My code is functional rather than elegant, and I want structured training in population genetic analysis and in how forensic standards differ from research practice.

Outside work I volunteer with a local bat group. I help with summer emergence counts at roosts, under the supervision of licensed members, and enter the tallies into a shared spreadsheet. It has shown me how much patient, repetitive fieldwork sits behind any conservation decision. On Sunday evenings I cook for my grandmother and sort out her week's shopping. That habit of keeping a fixed commitment alongside shifts has helped me plan my time realistically, and I expect to rely on it while studying online.

I am applying because I want to move from noticing problems in the wildlife trade to being able to test them properly. In the longer term I would like to work in species identification and trade monitoring. That might be in a laboratory supporting enforcement agencies or with an organisation advising on regulated trade. I bring practical experience of how that trade operates day to day, a careful approach to molecular data and the discipline to study alongside work.