Inspiring urban conservation through social media | A Q&A with wildlife influencer Lirayen Valencia

“I would love to see more wildlife influencers, and for them to be as popular and cool as fashion/lifestyle influencers” As of January 2024, around 62.3% of the world’s population are social media users. Communications have always been crucial for spreading conservation messages across the globe, but it seems that now, more than ever before,

Continue Reading

Podcast | How to raise more funding for wildlife conservation with David Goldman from the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife

What can Coca-Cola teach us about how to better save wildlife, in Australia and beyond?  And why should more governments set up charitable foundations to protect their national parks and threatened wildlife?  We discuss these and many other issues with today’s inspiring guest – David Goldman.  David is the Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer at

Continue Reading

Podcast | The Importance of Communications for Conservationists

Why is communications so important for conservationists? What communications skills are employers are looking for? And how can you start developing these skills, today? We answer these questions and more in this special edition of the Conservation Careers Podcast. Sir David Attenborough said that “Conservation is now a communications challenge”. Awareness of this challenge is

Continue Reading

“Bird Is the word”: An interview with British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist and diversity activist Dr. Mya-Rose Craig AKA “Birdgirl”

“You can’t care about what you don’t know about.” Ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster Mya-Rose has certainly had an amazing career. Not only has she had many accomplishments, but she was by the age of 17 the youngest person in the world to see half of the world’s

Continue Reading

Raising awareness through communications: An interview with Barbara Arizaga of the Galápagos Conservancy

Barbara Arizaga is the Director of Communications for the Galápagos Conservancy, an organization based out of the beautiful town of Puerto Ayora in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. The Galápagos Conservancy is committed to protecting one of the world’s most unique island chains and the animals that inhabit them, such as the critically endangered Pink Land

Continue Reading

Combining your passions | Conservation art and filmmaking with Alicia Hayden, Illustrator and Junior Researcher at the BBC Natural History Unit

Alicia Hayden is a UK-based wildlife artist, filmmaker, animator, writer, and photographer. She has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford and a master’s degree in Wildlife Filmmaking from the University of the West of England. Alicia currently works as an Illustrator and Junior Researcher for the BBC Natural History Unit in

Continue Reading

Nature through the lens: An interview with award-winning wildlife photographer Lara Jackson

“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” – Anne-Marie Bonneau. Conservationist, zoologist and award-winning wildlife photographer Lara Jackson is an inspirational female patron, who is passionate about using her unique skills in photography to tell stories about critically endangered species. Throughout her global

Continue Reading

Changing the world through digital technology and communications | A conservation leader’s career switch

Campaigning, communications and engagement are key tools in conservation work today, and they almost always rely on digital technology! Emma Marsh is the Executive Director of Digital Technology and Communications at RSPB, where she oversees the charity’s global digital technology, communications, campaigning, and engagement work. Emma shared her experience of switching careers into conservation as

Continue Reading

Breaking into the conservation sector

As a career switcher, I have a very personal understanding of the misconceptions that surround working in the conservation sector, especially when it comes to ‘breaking into conservation’. I can relate to that feeling of despair brought on by the natural assumption that the only way in is to go via the costly and time-consuming

Continue Reading

Wildlife Conservation Art with Xavi Reñé, Illustrator for Rewilding Europe

Xavi Reñé is a Barcelona-based illustrator with over ten years of experience. He illustrates in the field of wildlife conservation art, having worked for various commissioners from sanctuaries to foundations. Xavi currently works as a conservation illustrator and artist for Rewilding Europe, a non-profit foundation working on rewilding on the local, national, and continental level

Continue Reading

Exploring the “no handbook” realities of becoming a conservation filmmaker; an interview with Christine Lin, National Geographic Explorer

Christine Lin is a filmmaker and environmentalist with a focus on Indigenous storytelling, bird habitats, and water conservation. As a Senior Producer at the National Audubon Society, she currently leads video and various media projects surrounding the conservation of birds and the ecosystems they rely on. She is also a 2021 National Geographic Explorer, having

Continue Reading

Nature in 360° degrees

“At first, I loved. Then I observed. Finally, I photographed” Some years ago, I was visiting an important photography contest in Milan, when my attention was caught by a photo on display showing a Marsican bear crossing a street in a small village inside Abruzzo National Park. It was a beautiful wildlife portrait but also

Continue Reading

So you want to be a marine conservationist? Consider these realities before diving in

This blog has been adapted from the original version published on the MareCet Medium page (Flukes for Thought). When it comes to jobs relating to wildlife and the environment, conservation always seems to be the “it” thing to do. Conservation Careers names marine conservation to be the most ‘in demand’ job type to be listed on their site,

Continue Reading

Indigenous Partners in Conservation

Isidoro Hazbun is a conservationist whose career focuses on preserving biodiversity, and empowering communities of the Amazon rainforest that have protected some of the wildest places on earth for centuries. Many people enter careers in conservation as they want to work with wildlife and are driven by their love for animals or natural habitats. These

Continue Reading

Applying for a conservation job with a disability | Advice from aspiring wildlife presenter Ryan Eddowes

Have you ever found yourself reading through job applications and feeling disheartened after seeing requirements such as these? “Physically fit for the demands of this role” “A suitable level of physical fitness for assisting with the capture and restraint of animals as well as manoeuvring tools (including wheelbarrows)” “The role is physically demanding and our

Continue Reading