Thomas Kurt Land Evolution (MRes.) 2020

Researcher, BBC Natural History Unit

Find what drives you in your subject, and keep that in your heart when studying. It can be dauting at times, and confusing, but know that it is training you to be a great scientist. With that skill, you can get anywhere you want.

Tell us about your time at Southampton. What was a highlight from your course?

Having completed a Bachelors in Zoology at Southampton, a Masters in Evolution was a clear choice for me. Getting the chance to use the skills and knowledge I had used during my undergraduate degree, and putting them into practice in a wider context, across a discipline which encapsulates all life on Earth was fascinating.

The course started with going on a research-trip to the Galapagos Archipelago, to understand what Charles Darwin saw, and how it influenced his thinking towards life, and to carry out our own research. This was a once in a lifetime scientific opportunity that I simply could turn down.

The atmosphere from this trip, and at Southampton helped me formulate my own research for the year. It helped me run the Wildlife Society, putting together trips to the Natural History Museum and run wildlife surveys around Southampton.

A highlight of entire year was getting a chance to give a talk to the public at the Oxford Natural History Museum about my research, as well as at the Bath Geological Society. This certainly helped fan my love for helping communicate complex science into something understand, and inspirational, for the non-scientist.

Tell us about your life and career since leaving Southampton.

Exactly 2 days after handing in my MRes project, I started work at the BBC Natural History Unit as a Researcher on an exciting new landmark series. This is the start of a career I have always dreamed of getting into, and from this entry point I am hoping to get to producing and presenting my own scientific and natural history documentaries.

The University prepared me in several ways to get into this line of work. Firstly, I was taught the fundamentals of understanding and researching science. These skills ultimately allowed me to quickly learn, understand and communicate the vital sections of a topic in question.

Additionally, something vital which was pushed throughout my degrees at Southampton, both my Zoology BSc and Evolution MRes, was to stay inquisitive and persistent when getting to answers. Question everything in a subject when learning about it. You will eventually find the paragraph you need, or single sentence…or fact. But along the way, you also find an incredible wealth of background knowledge which may just be invaluable later.

Finally through the opportunities I found at Southampton, both in a scientific/professional capacity and in a private capacity, I met people and got experience I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Including meeting the scientists and researchers who are now my colleagues at the BBC.

What’s your advice to current students?

Also take the opportunities that are presented, however underqualified you may feel. You wouldn’t have been asked unless people genuinely thought you to be capable.

Oh, and question every detail and fact. Never stop asking how.