Biovet student Louie talks about how his placement helped him see another side of the facilities that drew him to Harper Adams

Combining his love of science and animals was the formula for success for student Louie Millar when he chose to study Bsc (Hons) Veterinary Bioscience at Harper Adams. 

Louie said: “As someone who enjoys practical lab classes, many modules on the course appealed to me when deciding what degree to pursue.  

“The extended degree programme was also vital in deciding the degree to pursue, as this gave me the choice of three different degrees to progress into after completing that year.” 

Having suitable facilities available on-site are a must for practical subjects such as Veterinary Bioscience, and for Louie Harper Adams more than met his expectations. 

“The facilities at Harper were what attracted me the most to this university, especially having the Elizabeth Creak and Princess Margaret laboratories available. 

“The amount of potential animal contact hours available at the university appealed to me, with the companion animal house on site as well as the Harper farm,” he added. 

Louie is now working in the facilities which so impressed him on his placement in the Princess Margaret Science Laboratories on campus. Here, his work covers everything from nutrition, soils and entomology to general biology lab classes.

“This involves me working with the academics to set out their lab classes, in addition to helping with the teaching of certain modules when using some of the equipment in the labs”, he said. 

The one-year work placement allows students to put theory into practice, testing their knowledge and problem-solving skills in real-life situations. 

“My placement year has been extremely valuable to my learning. I’ve been able to now see both sides of the labs and it has given me a good understanding on how it runs behind the scenes.” 

“In addition, I’ve also been able to get trained on numerous different bits of lab kit including things like liquid nitrogen and centrifuges which are often used in many commercial labs.  I’ve also been able to start preparing ideas for my Honours Research Project which will make my final year much less stressful.” 

Like all students here at Harper Adams, Louie also has his future career prospects in mind. He said: “The course itself is really interesting and can lead to some great careers afterwards.” 

“After Harper, my aspirations are to work in lab-based environments - whether that be as a lab technician like in my placement year or to go on and complete a PhD - and go into research.”