Millport Field Class

Students start their third ‘Honours’ year with a one-week field class in Millport, on the Isle of Cumbrae in Western Scotland. Millport has an iconic place in the history of ecology and marine biology for both research and teaching. Now operated by the Field Studies Council, it is a state-of-the-art facility for field teaching and learning with all the field and laboratory equipment and facilities that we need.

During our week at Millport, students work in small groups to design, execute, analyse and write-up a complete research project in behaviour, ecology or physiology. The unrivalled range of accessible habitats and organisms on Cumbrae allows students to undertake projects such as habitat selection in birds, camouflage in urchins, personality in periwinkles and competition in lichens.

Initial assessment occurs during the field class in the form of a group oral presentation, where students can also learn from each other about the vast range of topics that projects can cover. This is followed up by a group project report soon after we return to Liverpool, with extensive support for both provided by a supervising member of academic staff. This helps provide outstanding preparation for the Honours projects that all students do in their third year.