SCHOOL students enjoyed a trip to the zoo.

Year 10 students from Cornelius Vermuyden School on Canvey Island had a great day at Colchester Zoo.

They enjoyed looking around the zoo, meeting and feeding some of the animals up close, and entering a draw to change a tiger’s world – to adopt one of the Zoo’s Amur Tigers!

Even in the heat of the summer sunshine many of the students attended a range of talks by students and researchers working on climate change, conserving biodiversity and tackling global health issues.

Speakers included Rebecca Daniel MSc, a Tropical Marine Biology Student at the University of Essex, Dr Rob Knell, Evolutionary Ecologist at Queen Mary University London and Dr Ross Piper whose passion for living things inspired the young people in his talk about how saving endangered plants and animals can help us stay healthy and tackle diseases. (pic)

The Change Your World day was one event in a programme of activities being delivered by Make Happen, the Essex consortium of a national programme aimed at raising young peoples’ aspirations and showcasing the opportunities that higher education can offer. The day at Colchester Zoo showed the young people that there are many routes they can take to get involved in changing their world that don’t need a PhD or a lab coat!