Highland student secures Geographical study trip of a lifetime

8th May 2009

A Dornoch Academy student is heading off around the world to help her studies after winning £4000 of support from the Royal Geographical Society-IBG's Learning and Leading Gap Year Programme.

Seventeen year old Lynn Munro from Spinningdale in Sutherland has been selected to become one of only twelve students across the UK to receive a grant to undertake a geographical themed Gap Year anywhere in the world.

She will spend twelve weeks visiting South Africa mostly around the Garden Route area, which is host to numerous wildlife, game and coastal reserves.

South Africa's Garden Route is a great place for a first time gap year student to explore and volunteer in. There will be many opportunities for Lynn to see and help with conservation and fulfil some lifelong ambitions.

Lynn intends to spend four weeks volunteering on an elephant park followed by two weeks on a wildlife and conservation project, ending with two weeks at a predator sanctuary. During these eight weeks she hopes to work on a variety of things.

Most of all, Lynn is looking forward to doing conservation work with local people. She will spend her last month staying with a relative on Leisure Island Knysnia exploring the area and her trip will end in Capetown where she will spend four days.

Lynn will come home for a visit around Christmas and then will head off early in 2010 to New Zealand for around twelve weeks. This trip will be a mix of seasonal work, adventure travel and visiting family friends. New Zealand is an ideal place to discover and explore physical geography and Lynn hopes to get involved in some form of conservation work there.

On her return Lynn will act as a Geography Ambassador, giving presentations to students on her experiences and introducing younger school pupils to the benefits of studying Geography. She is looking forward to returning to Dornoch Academy, her old school to let them share her adventures through a talk and hopefully some great photos.

Lynn said: "I still can't believe I was chosen, it's a once in a life time opportunity. I hope my experience will show others why learning about the world around us is more important than ever before and why Geography is such a great subject to study."

Congratulating Lynn on winning her award, Royal Geographical Society-IBG Director Dr Rita Gardner said: "A key aspect of Geography is being able to see and investigate the world first hand. The Society is delighted to be supporting Lynn in this way, so that she can realise her ambition to travel overseas and gain first hand experience of the world's people, places and environments."

Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Committee wished Lynn the best of success in her Gap Year, he said: "This is an outstanding opportunity that Lynn has secured all down to her own merits. On behalf of The Highland Council I wish her all the best with her travels. Her experiences will be an inspiration to other Highland pupils when she returns as Geography Ambassador to the Highlands."