Work experience blog: Zacary Colverson
PUBLISHED ON: 4 JULY 2025My name is Zacary. I have just completed my work experience at the New Forest National Park Authority in the communications team.
My time at my placement allowed me to get hands on with some work that the comms team do on a day to day basis. Due to this, my experience was very helpful in cementing ideas of what I may want to do in my future career. My time at this placement was made that much better by the friendly work environment and the support from people working in the NPA.
As I am studying Moving Image and Creative Digital Technologies at Barton Peveril college, I have had a lot of chances to plan, produce and edit different media products. This work experience has allowed me to put these skills into practical use but whilst also still learning new skills and information that will help me down the road in my career. I was able to take away a lot of useful things from this placement due to the NPA teaching us new things on topics we may not have covered before. For example, how AI can be used within the media, day to day life and the ethics behind this.
To start the week I was introduced to the people within the office and given a tour around the building. I was met with a very friendly setting which helped me feel very welcome. Then I was given a chance to take photos of the general environment and wildlife within the New Forest. Doing this allowed me to learn new things about the New Forest bringing me closer to this natural environment. Once we made it back to the office, we were shown examples and talked through how the NPA uses social media, touching on the software used to manage different posts on each platform. This was interesting to me as I enjoyed seeing how social media was used within a professional setting.
On Tuesday we had a great opportunity to help out with the conservation of the Breamore train line which is a line that goes from Salisbury to Wimborne but was closed in 1964 and has since been taken back by nature. The team at the NPA are trying to conserve the line so it can be used as a public footpath. During this opportunity we were given talks on facts about the line and the habitat it runs through, we then also were able to help cut back some of the bushes so the footpath is a little bit clearer. Overall the day was very informative and it was great to do hands-on work.
On the next day we went out to take some conservation and heritage photos for the planning team. This was a great day as I was able to be outside and experiment taking photos of new environments that I haven’t had the chance to do a lot of before. This allowed me to expand my photography skills. This was also a new reason for taking photos I haven’t experienced before this point, so I found it very interesting to find out what the planning team wanted to get out of the photos taken.
To conclude our placement week we completed an AI workshop where multiple uses and viewpoints on AI were explored. This was interesting to see how AI was being utilised within big organisations and what the thoughts were on this topic.
Later, we had a chance to talk to two professional wildlife photographers; Steve Laycock and Niall Bowcock. This was a good chance to get a look into what it could be like making a career out of this interest. From talking to Steve, I was able to find out what it is that I would need to focus on, to help me break into the career path I want.
Next we were shown how the NPA uses digital asset management which allowed us to also learn about the legal side of how photos may be used by the NPA.
On the last day, we completed a litter pick which we were tasked to take photos of. As the litter pick commenced at Calshot beach we were able to see a wide range of wildlife. For example we saw a couple of oyster catchers and I was able to take pictures of them and their nest, though we made sure this was done at a distance so it didn’t disturb the nest. In the afternoon we were able to reflect back on our time with the NPA, and discussed what we took away from the experience.
Overall, I found my work experience placement with the NPA very useful and exciting. I was able to get a very detailed look at how tasks within the comms team gets done while having the chance to get hands on with taking photos, learning about the National Park and helping with the preservation of the New Forest.
I have definitely taken a lot from this experience, I now have a clear plan on what I want to do in the future with university and where to go after that. This allowed me to see how tools like social media get used within a professional setting, which gave me a good look into what work life is like in the NPA with the comms team.
The photographs below were taken by Zacary Colverson in the New Forest during his work placement with the NPA.
