Research Placement Students - Ecology / Behaviour and Welfare
Wild Planet Trust
Applications are now open for our 2026/27 Research Placements!
Our research and applied husbandry placement programme has been tailor-made to enable students to gain experience in a wide range of techniques. The 10-month voluntary placements have been designed to work within university undergraduate industrial year ('sandwich year') programmes and to provide students with the opportunity to put theory into practice.
As part of our research placements, you will be based with Wild Planet Trust’s Research or Projects and Partnerships Department, at either Paignton Zoo or Newquay Zoo. You’ll spend the majority of your time collecting, analysing and interpreting data as part of high-quality research projects. You’ll be trained in a variety of research techniques and gain a range of transferable skills such as conference speaking, taking meeting minutes and making a practical contribution towards behavioural management.
We offer placements focusing on ecology or behaviour and welfare.
About Wild Planet Trust
We are a conservation charity that works internationally to achieve our mission of helping halt species decline. We believe that conservation is something that everyone can be involved with and that together we can all make a difference to live more sustainably with nature.
Wild Planet Trust, formerly Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, is a registered education, scientific and conservation charity established in 1957 and based in Devon, UK. We own two zoos in south west England, plus two local nature reserves and a National Nature Reserve. We work alongside many organisations and our visitors, members and supporters, who help us halt species decline.
We are a conservation charity that works internationally to achieve our mission of helping halt species decline. We believe that conservation is something that everyone can be involved with and that together we can all make a difference to live more sustainably with nature. Wild Planet Trust, formerly Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, is a registered education, scientific and conservation charity established in 1957 and based in Devon, UK. We own two zoos in south west England, plus two local nature reserves and a National Nature Reserve. We work alongside many organisations and our visitors, members and supporters, who help us halt species decline.
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