The Level 7 Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management in Agriculture, run at LIT’s Thurles campus, had its first intake of students in September 2015.

This degree was set up by the same academic team that runs the college’s Environmental and Natural Resource Management degree.

They noticed over the years that lots of the graduates of the Environmental and Natural Resource Management degree were getting jobs in the rural economy – for example in Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency.

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They also noticed that students were getting positions with local authorities – positions that involved working with farmers, or getting positions in consultancies, but with a focus on rural and agricultural issues.

Based on this experience and, aware of the agriculture and food sector’s need to comply with greater environmental standards, LIT’s Thurles campus decided to build a new degree on the foundations of the current one, with an agricultural slant.

“It gives those from a non-farming background the opportunity to get up to speed on agriculture while being trained to be competent in environmental management,” says programme leader Clifford Guest.

CAO points required for the course were 205 in the first year and the first intake was comprised of 10 students. While Clifford is keen to stress the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management in Agriculture is not an agriculture degree, throughout the course of the degree, students spend one third of their time on agriculture and two thirds of their time on environmental science.

In first year, students spend one day a week in Gurteen, they complete two agriculture modules in second year, while third year is divided 50/50 between agriculture and environmental science modules. Students also complete a work placement in third year.

While there isn’t a fourth year in place for this programme yet, an “add-on year” is currently being developed and will be in place for the students at the end of their third year. Students thereafter will have the option of putting down the Level 8 form of the degree on their CAO. Students also have the option of moving into fourth year of the Environmental and Natural Resource Management at Thurles.

Given this course is just in its first year, we can’t yet say where graduates will find employment, but the jobs Clifford envisages graduates of this degree will get include farm auditor roles, careers as environmental technicians in dairy co-ops and food processing plants, or as environmental officers and managers in food processing companies.

“We spoke to ag merchants, who said they would consider graduates of this course for ag sales rep positions, as the questions they get from clients are more and more about the environment,” says Clifford. He also envisages that graduates of this course will get jobs in Leader companies and NGOs, and other companies with a rural development remit.

Placement

Students go on work placement in third year and, while they have to arrange the placement themselves, they get a lot of support. Clifford says that approximately 80% of students arrange their own placement. He finds that young students have no problem asking their brother or aunt, for example, to set them up in their companies. “They’ve no shame!” says Chris, “but older students are shyer. We’ve never not placed someone. If students get stuck, we get involved.”

One of the strengths of this particular course, according to Clifford, is the small classes and the amount of applied learning involved. Clifford is particularly enthusiastic about the one day a week that students spend in Gurteen, where they learn about animal and crop husbandry.

“Our students won’t learn how to dehorn calves, but they’ll see it and have a good grasp of farming practice. When sheep are lambing they are not actually [helping with the] lambing, but they are seeing someone else do it.” CL

>> The student experience

Frances Hurley is from a farm in Kildorrery in north Cork. She says she was a bit of a tomboy growing up. “When friends came over, they wanted to play games, but I wanted to be outside,” she laughs.

Frances’ favourite subjects in school were ag science and biology. She went to UCC to study biochemical science at the age of 17 and “absolutely hated it”. She says she was a “child going into the big, bad world”.

She found the class sizes very big, as there were between 100 and 200 students in a lecture theatre, because several courses were taking the same module. Frances decided to take some time out of college, and two years later she applied for the CAO again. She decided that “the environment was never going to go anywhere”, so there should always be jobs available in this field.

She thought the course at LIT sounded really interesting. “It wasn’t your basic ag science. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew there was something about it that appealed to me. It was broad enough that there would be lots of options afterwards.

“I think it offers more than a lot of other colleges. I travel up and down every day and I work, but it doesn’t bother me. The lecturers are so accommodating. It’s interesting more than anything, you want to learn it. It’s opening your eyes to what’s going on around you.”

Frances says LIT feels more like a home than UCC did. “There are 10 students in our class; it’s so easy to interact. There’s more one-to-one time with lecturers. It’s easier to ask for help. They know us personally. It’s not like you email your lecturer and they don’t even know you.

“We’re all very similar people; that’s why we get along so well. We all have similar backgrounds, most of us are from farms. I love Gurteen as well; you’re out and about and learning things you mightn’t have learned before.”

Frances says she would like to work with Teagasc as an advisor to farmers, but she acknowledges she may have changed her mind by the time she finishes her degree, as she’s also interested in teaching.