UNDERGRADUATES from across the UK and Ireland headed to Scotland to take part in a jam-packed summer programme of activities at a leading outdoor education centre on the Isle of Cumbrae.

Experts at FSC Millport welcomed 50 first and second year ecology students from a variety of universities to experience a range of activities to support their studies.

These included insect sampling, marine mammal and bird surveying, plant identification and camera trapping to record mammal activity.

As well as ecological sessions, the students also learned about publishing, ecological policy, communicating research and had the opportunity to get career advice and guidance.

Those visiting the centre were taking part in an annual Undergraduate Summer School Programme funded by the British Ecological Society (BES).

The FSC, is one of the UK’s leading educational charities and runs a network of centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Senior FSC tutor Jack Lucas, said: “It was fantastic to see so many aspiring ecologists and experts in the field descend on our island centre for the week to study the amazing organisms that live here.”