A Focus On Nature

13th December 2012

AFON

A Focus On…Nicola Boulton

The third serving of our A Focus On Nature profiles, with a snapshot view of…

#3 Nicola Boulton, BSc(hons) Zoo Biology 2:1, Nottingham Trent University

Wildlife Tour Guide for Sea.fari Adventures, Oban

Nicola spent the summer  of 2012 working for Sea.fari Adventures, Oban, as a wildlife tour guide; she was mentored through her last year of study by Dr Robert Lambert, University of Nottingham, and received a pair of Discovery binoculars from Opticron to help her further her career in ecotourism.

Nicola is an exceptional and original artist; she works in a variety of mediums, and is capable of making her subjects playful, stylish and engaging. She has just illustrated a new children’s book of nonsense poetry by Michael Skyner, entitled the Monkey’s Fart.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?:
“Continuing in the ecotourism industry, as I feel this allows me to spark a fascination for wildlife in other people, and also promote in sit conservation. As well as this, profit from ecotourism can be put back into conservation projects.  In an ideal world I would like to do this on as many different continents as possible, in order to satisfy my desire to see the world.”

The Entry: “My entry is a photo of a White-tailed Sea Eagle in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. To me this represents an important achievement in conservation, and also ecotourism. The WTSE is an incredible bird that was once completely eradicated from the UK. Thanks to the hard work and knowledge of those who reintroduced it there are now 57 breeding pairs in Scotland.”

If you, like Nicola, are young, enthusiastic and interested in a career in nature conservation, contact A Focus On Nature by heading to their website, or emailing lucy@blog.afon.org.uk. We’ll send you an application form, and you’ll be in with a chance of winning books, binoculars, mentoring by a professional, and the opportunity to build your CV by taking part in our projects.