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If you are passionate about starting a career in the animal industries, Lackham is the place to be. With brand new, unrivalled resources and a wealth of teaching expertise, your learning will practical, immersive and prepare you to achieve your ambitions.

Part of a £9million investment into the campus has transformed the facilities we use to teach our popular animal courses.

Our wide range of domestic and exotic animals are now housed in new, zoo-level enclosures, giving our students industry experience and cutting-edge practical learning as standard. The new Animal Resource Centre is home to an incredible range of exotic and domestic animals, from rabbits and guinea pigs to racoons, tarantulas, marmosets, a huge variety of birds, reptiles, aquatics and many more. It also includes a Blue Cross Rehoming Centre, a dog grooming parlour and a zoological garden. Your classroom learning will be enriched and consolidated with regular practical activities and routine duties in the animal centre, allowing you to put theory into practice and build your confidence.

Please note that our Animal Resource Centre is LAIA and DWA compliant.

Meet your lecturer

Katrina Willis,
Programme Lead, HNC and HND Animal Management,

Katrina is a highly-skilled and knowledgeable wildlife expert and is the Programme Lead on the College’s HNC and HND Animal Management (Behaviour and Welfare) course.

Katrina joined the College in 1998 as a part-time lecturer and technician within the Animal Centre at our Lackham campus. Since then, she has taught a wide range of subjects and levels within the animal care and land-based departments. She specialises in animal anatomy and physiology, animal behaviour, research projects and animal diversity and evolution.

While working at the College, Katrina completed a Masters (Sc) degree in Behavioural Ecology at the University of Bristol, becoming one of the first part-time Masters students in her area of study at the university. Her thesis concerned the visual abilities of woodland birds. She previously studied Zoology at the University of Wales, Swansea. Read more...

Bridget Williams,
Lecturer in Animal Science and Management,

Bridget's specialist subject areas include animal welfare, nutrition and breeding management. Her first degree was in Biology from Bath University and her postgraduate qualification from the University of Wales in Anthrozoology (human-animal studies), during which she carried out research into socialised wolf and human volunteer interactions. Specialist interests in the field of Anthrozoology include mechanisms of the human animal bond, therapy animals, human and wildlife interaction and anthropomorphism. Vocationally Bridget has had a broad range of animal related experience from owning and running her own British Horse Society examination and training centre, achieving advanced side saddle instructor qualification, through to successfully breeding and showing Burmese cats to Grand Champion national standard.

Sarah Mullane,
Lecturer in Animal Management,

Sarah has worked at Lackham for 23 years in both Equine and Animal Care. Her background is Equine, where she gained her British Horse Society Assistant Instructor and assistant grooms qualifications. Following a period of work in a variety of Equine yards, including Show ponies, mixed discipline and competition, she gained her Intermediate Stable Mangers qualification. Sarah has taught across a range of levels from Pony Club to students training to become Instructors. Following the merger of campuses to become Wiltshire College, Sarah has diversified her teaching skills to cover Land-based and Animal Care related subjects for Foundation to Level 3 students.

Isobel Collier,
Lecturer in Animal Management,

Isobel has an honours degree in Experimental Psychology from Sussex University, specialising in behavioural ecology and mate choice behaviour. After graduating, she started work at Bristol Zoo as an Invertebrate Keeper and Education Officer and then acted as a consultant for Adelaide and Perth zoos, as well as classifying spiders for the Museum of Western Australia.

Living in Canberra, she was the head of the Education Department of the National Zoo and Aquarium before moving to become Head of Education, Outreach and Development at Blackpool Zoo. She sat on the BIAZA Education Committee, was the scientific officer for EAZA’s ELETAG and co-wrote the UK professional keeping qualification. She currently teaches and runs her own company.

In her spare time Isobel enjoys travelling, creating and reading.

Gen Linehan,
Lecturer in Animal Management,

Genevieve has worked for the College for fifteen years and is programme Co-Ordinator for the School Links Provision at Lackham. She has been involved with Equine, the Agriculture industry (mostly sheep) as well as rearing calves from a very young age. She has travelled and worked extensively in Australia and New Zealand, working on large cattle and sheep stations and gaining a wealth of practical experience.

In the UK she has specialised in all aspects of equine management and care, working in professional show jumping yards where she was involved in producing international horses for the show jumping circuit. Over her years of experience, she has been involved with all aspects of rehabilitation of problematic horses as well as breeding and showing young stock and supporting her daughters in many equine disciplines. She also teaches riding and has worked with the local pony club.

In her spare time, Genevieve likes working her dogs on local shoots and enjoying country pursuits.

Joanne Nicholson,
Lecturer in Animal Science and Management,

Joanne has worked at the College for over 10 years, delivering primarily on Higher Education courses. She currently teaches on the BSc (Hons) and FdSc Animal Science and Management programmes. Her specialisms include animal behaviour, immunology, bioacoustics and animal welfare.

Joanne has a PhD in Behavioural Ecology from the University of London, where she researched song development in the Sedge Warbler. Her other research interests also lie within the field of bioacoustics and in the past she has worked for the RSPCA investigating ultrasonic calls in laboratory rodents and held the position of Curator of Wildlife Sounds at the British Library.

Our Facilities:

Animal Resource Centre

Our new Animal Resource Centre features zoo-standard enclosures for a wide range of animals, creating a real industry environment for practical learning.

Zoological Gardens

Our dedicated zoological garden is home to a wide variety of exotic animal and plant species.

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