BES Discovery Day: Your journey into the environment starts here

At a quiet corner on campus, a team of Environmental Studies (BES) undergraduates has been busy rewriting the script of the traditional outreach event. Their initiative – BES Discovery Day – was not just another information session. Held on 7 February, it was the first student-led outreach effort designed to bring clarity, candour and conversation to prospective students.

The idea was born from shared experience. Many in the organising team once stood on the other side – confused applicants scrolling through outdated Reddit threads and navigating scattered information online of the programme.

Gloria Goh, who oversees the BES Student Committee (Outreach), recalls the uncertainty. “Prospective students often lack a clear understanding of the programme and what we actually do,” she says. “Some still think BES is a major with a fixed specialty like environmental geography or environmental biology, which is no longer true.”

With this in mind, the team set out to create an informative and immersive experience to help A-Level and polytechnic students make informed choices about their undergraduate major. More than that, they wanted to show that university life is not merely about academics – for BES students, it is also about growing to become thoughtful advocates and stewards of the environment.

“This event was intended to be more casual and intimate than formal open houses,” Gloria says. “We wanted prospective students to feel comfortable asking honest questions.”

Those questions often revolve around practical concerns. What jobs can BES graduates pursue? How does the Cross Disciplinary Programme differ from the majors in Geography or Life Sciences? These were but some of the burning queries that the team sought to address through a panel discussion.

The panel, comprising BES seniors and alumni, featured speakers, such as Too Fan Ning, an ESG Analyst at Amova Asset Management; Dominic Tan, a Research Assistant at the Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions; and Tara Lingaraj, a Tropical Forest Ecology Research Intern at the National Parks Board.  Each spoke openly about their roles, how BES shaped their paths, lessons learned and what they might have done differently.

Tara says, “The interdisciplinary nature and flexibility of the programme provides essential skills for the changing global landscape. I learned a lot from my internships, and I thought it would be great to share my experiences with future BES students.”

Beyond the panel, the programme drew inspiration from the idea of a ‘human library.’ At interactive booths, prospective students sat down in small groups with alumni and undergraduates for informal, unscripted conversations. There were no slides – only stories, reflections and candid advice.

“We wanted to create space for conversations beyond academics, to bring students’ passion for environmental studies to life,” Gloria adds.

Behind the scenes, the project has also been a lesson in teamwork. Coordinating with multiple stakeholders, confirming speakers and managing the event required patience and resilience. “Effective communication was vital,” Gloria says. “We had to constantly check in, clarify details and stay positive to see the event through.”

Ultimately, BES Discovery Day proved to be more than a showcase of a degree programme.  It was an effort to replace uncertainty with lived experience and assumptions with honest dialogue.

“We did not only clarify what BES is but we wanted to shed light on what it could become in the hands of the next cohort,” Gloria says.