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Megan Quail

BSc (Hons) Biology

Biology student Megan

I handled a sea anemone as big as my head during a marine biology field trip - the kind of real-world experience you can’t get in a classroom.

You can’t help but become interested in biology growing up on a farm, surrounded by sheep. I could see the effect of genetics happening on my doorstep in real time. The breeding process fascinated me: how the first sheep’s characteristics affect the success of all the future animals in the flock.

I developed a passion for ecology and agriculture. I thought biology would be the best degree for me as it was broad enough to cover all of my interests.

I love being in the lab, but as someone who grew up outdoors, the best part of the course is the fieldwork. I’ve done site work in British forests, and a research project on Mediterranean plants and insects in Cyprus.

I handled a sea anemone as big as my head. I got to go out on a fishing trawler during a marine biology field trip in Scotland. That’s the kind of real-world experience you can’t get in a classroom.

I’ve loved learning about life in the trees. The canopy hadn’t really been something I was interested in at all, but a week’s field trip – and the enthusiasm of my lecturers – changed all that.

We learned to climb trees safely with a canopy cameraman on several of David Attenborough’s programmes. He had some amazing stories – you don’t get the opportunity to work with someone like that every day. The experience was so inspirational I’ve decided to do an MRes on the effects of habitat fragmentation on the seed dispersal of plants in the tropical canopies of Brazil.

Discovery is the best word to describe my whole experience at Edge Hill. I’ve found there’s so much to discover, about myself and about the world. I’ve discovered an unexpected passion for tree climbing and for what lies undiscovered in the canopy. I’ve had opportunities I never thought I’d have while developing the abilities to do them. It’s only when you take a step back that you can see how far you’ve come.