Why I Never Cooperate With Universities or Student "Documentary Makers"

 

Back in 2001 I stopped helping students who were asking for information on exotic species in the UK for their papers. Why?  Well, there was the usual "I will of course give full credit to you" and do you know how many of the 25 students who submitted their papers credited my help?

None.

Not a single one and I know because I was able to access some then and some in the last year. All quoted the sources I had given but wrote that this was all their own hard research work. I suppose the fact that professors at universities did similar shows that it is common practice and the response when you challenge them? "We maintain the highest academic standards in research" which is their way of saying "😡 off!"

And every year without exception there are the students who are "making a documentary" and want to know where to film foxes and badgers in Bristol and they are particularly interested in any with cubs. These students are based all around the south of England and just a quick check reveals there are noted populations of foxes and badgers in their areas so why Bristol?

The thing is that these people give promises of not revealing locations but with no exceptions they do. They do not care about the wildlife it's the credits for their courses they want and that's it. Every year without exception.

Every year without exception I get or read on other sites "I am a documentary film maker and am working on a film about badgers/foxes" and, yes, they want den locations and an6y where it is known there are cubs.  Again, there is no concern for the safety of the dens and those in them. It's about getting the footage to try to sell on or show some TV company that you can film wildlife.

It would be really nice if just one of these people were actually sincere in their interest and wanted to produce a documentary about foxes or badgers and the real story of the threats to them. But no.

It is not just with wildlife, however, same time of the year you get other "documentary making" students contact people in other fields of interest and, guess what? They really could not care less for the subject matter so long as they get their course credits.

I once helped a "documentary film maker" student and a year later I saw him while I was out shopping and asked how he had got on with the wildlife work. He stared at me blankly then remembered "Oh, that was just for the course I moved on and looked at the home brewing craze after that".  So where was the documentary he made? Apparently he had tried selling it twice or tried to get work through it but no luck so "I think it's in a box somewhere at the uni still" -the box with his map of where the various locations were and all of his notes that anyone could just stumble across.

My last experience with a university professor ended with me lending hard to find old books which were then lost and cost me £300 to replace. Were they concerned about the books having been lost along with maps and other info I had lent them? No. Everyone denied they were responsible and they had what they wanted and on this occasion my very last ounce of faith in cooperating with academics was gone. Once, twice, thrice and four times bitten I learnt my lesson.

So when you see those appeals by documentary film making students or other persons just remember the interest is only in course credits or selling footage NOT the animals