Farewell to Sarah, NRPDTP Placement Coordinator

Dr Sarah Eglington joined UEA’s Postgraduate Research Service in November 2014 as the NRPDTP’s Placement Coordinator. She has been located with the NRPDTP Team in the Norwich Bioscience Institutes (NBI) Graduate School. This month she leaves us to take on the role of Planning and Policy Advocate at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, she will be very sorely missed.

Sarah has professionally and proficiently delivered the placement programmes of the NRPDTP, especially our Professional Internships for PhD students (PIPS) scheme. She has provided support to a multitude of students, at induction, in initial one-to-one meetings, then helping to identify hosts and suitable placements, remaining in contact during placements, ensuring reporting is complete, then publicising the students’ experiences. Our students have greatly appreciated her friendliness, expertise and guidance.

Thanks to Sarah our PIPS scheme has been a great success and we are very proud of it. We have been told that it “should be held as good practice for other Doctoral Training Partnerships”. Prof Dave Evans, NRPDTP Director, said “Sarah has done a really fantastic job and we are sad to see her go. She has supported the NRPDTP in many ways, not only in relation to PIPS, and has been a most valued member of the Team”.

In addition to her NRPDTP role, Sarah was an ardent driver and promoter of green impact awareness and sustainability within the NBI Graduate School Office and led it to a Bronze Green Impact Award (2018) and then a Silver Award (2019). Sarah is an advocate of minimising waste in the workplace and at home and has a strong passion for environmental issues. She has won both UEA’s Sustainability Champion Award and the prestigious Sustainable UEA Special Recognition Award. Outside of work, amongst many other things, she is the Group Coordinator of Norwich Friends of the Earth and an active member of Norwich Green Party.

Sarah said, “It’s been great working at the NRPDTP over the past 9 years. I’ve enjoyed working with the students and have had a lot of satisfaction knowing I’ve helped them secure some really excellent placements. There is a wonderful team working within the Graduate School Office so I’m sorry to be leaving but the opportunity to work for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust is extremely exciting for me”.

We extend our very best wishes to Sarah as she embarks on the next chapter of her life.