One of ISH's first students joins department as lecturer

14 October 2015

Congratulations to Rob Woodside on becoming a lecturer for the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage.

As well as working with ISH, Rob Woodside is Head of Conservation for the National Trust London & South East region. Rob is an archaeologist with broad experience of multi-disciplinary conservation management. He was one of the first ever group of students to study on the MSc in Sustainable Heritage at UCL in 2004, with his dissertation on assessing the impacts of climate change on World Heritage Sites. Rob currently manages a team of 80 conservation professionals leading on building conservation, collections management, park and garden restoration, renewable energy, habitat management, landscape-scale ecosystems and the delivery of major projects. As he makes the transition from respected heritage professional to lecturer, we caught up with Rob to find out more about his career.

Rob, tell us more about teaching here at UCL ISH

It’s a genuine honour – since I went on the course I’ve been a strong advocate of the ISH, so coming back over 10 years later to teach is exciting. I learnt a lot during my time at UCL which has been invaluable in my career, and I hope I can share some of my experiences of working in the heritage sector with the new student group.

What have been the most exciting or rewarding moments of your career so far?

Probably the moment I heard I’d won the contract to write a Conservation Management Plan for the Avebury World Heritage Site – definitely an air punch moment. I’ve always loved Avebury and it felt good to beat off some serious competition. To be honest, most of my work is pretty rewarding. I love the diversity of working in the heritage sector – one minute I can be talking to conservators about collections, a building surveyor about energy efficiency, an archaeologist about historic landscapes and then an ecologist about habitats – all of which tie in together. Most people I work with are passionate about their subjects, and their enthusiasm wears off on you.

How did your time at UCL ISH influence your career path?

I came to UCL ISH having spent almost 10 years working as an Archaeologist in the National Trust. I knew I wanted to diversify and broaden my interest in other areas of heritage, which the course certainly gave me. I left the Trust half way through the course (I did it over two years) and worked as a commercial consultant trying to build a business around sustainable heritage, so I did a lot of work around conservation planning and World Heritage Site management, working with multi-disciplinary teams, so the course was spot on. I then went back to the Trust as Head of Conservation for London & South East where everything I do is pretty much rooted in the principles of ISH – plus loads of people and budget management – you can never escape that!

What are your fondest memories of being a student at UCL?

Definitely working with the other students – I did the course over 2 years, which meant I worked with two different groups, so I got to know a lot of people. I always enjoyed sharing ideas and experiences with students from around the world, which stretched my understanding and perception. You get thrown in together for two weeks at a time, working all day and often late in the evenings, so you need to get on, especially on the two week session in Malta.

If you could give your fellow alumni any advice, what would it be?

Do what you love and do it well.