A tragedy has befallen many species of vultures. They have become collateral victims of poisoning incidents and human activities. Their numbers are significantly declining in Africa and Asia and many places on earth are lacking sufficient scavenging by “nature’s clean-up crew”. So says José Tavares, director of the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF), Europe’s leading organisation working
Do you yearn for adventure? Do you enjoy discovering hidden corners of the globe and enjoy spending time immersed in nature? Then you will love the British Exploring Society. It is an amazing organisation that takes young people to extraordinary destinations, both in terms of the places they visit and also in their own lives.
The Indonesian Parrot Project (IPP) and their Indonesian counterpart, Konservasi Kakatua Indonesia (KKI), work collaboratively to protect the parrots of Indonesia. Established in 2001 by Dr Stewart Metz and originally known as Project Bird Watch, the organisation focuses efforts on conservation and education. Conservation efforts take many forms, from Critically Endangered species protection programmes to rescue, rehabilitation and release (via Indonesian-based centre, Kembalis Bebas), to community awareness
How do you grow a conservation organisation from 5 staff to over 500 in just over two decades? Why might Greta Thunberg be wrong to avoid air travel, and how is the conservation industry changing the way it hires staff in the 21st century? I discuss these issues and many more with today’s guest Mark Rose – Chief Executive Officer – Fauna &
Conservation Careers speaks to the top person in global conservation – WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini. He shares his passion for wildlife, his career story of how he started out as a volunteer for WWF and ended up as their Director General, and provides advice and hope for people looking to start working in
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to switch careers into conservation, maybe moving from banking, marketing or law and supply your trade in an effort to save nature? Well, that’s what today’s guest has done in this special Fauna & Flora International podcast. Nick Bubb is the Business Development Director at Fauna & Flora
Are you working in something totally unrelated to conservation and dreaming of switching into a career helping wildlife to flourish? Well that’s exactly what today’s guest has done successfully, and right in at the top. Dominic Jermey OBE worked as a senior British diplomat for over 20 years in countries such as East Timor and
Welcome to this special extended edition of the podcast. Today we’re turning the tables slightly and talking about, well us; Conservation Careers. We thought it would be a good end to the year and to the decade to look back at the journey of Conservation Careers over the past six years and also to look forward to
Every year, thousands of animals are killed by poachers that get away with it, due to the lack of evidence. Starting next year, the worlds of Crime Scene Investigation and Wildlife Conservation come together to tackle this problem at the very first Wildlife Forensic Academy! Andro Vos is the founder and CEO of the Wildlife Forensic Academy, located
When you think about the Amazon basin and the vast area of dense jungle and vegetation, do you think about seeing dolphins? Me neither. Today we’re talking to Suzanne Smith, the Executive Director and Founder of the Amazon River Dolphin Conservation Foundation. This is a charity set up in 2014 to conserve the species through
Bradley Schroder has worked in the Wildlife, Conservation and Tourism Industries for the past 27 years, and gained extensive experience in all departments related to the management of conservation areas. Previously, he was Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Welgevonden Game Reserve and Welgevonden Reaction Non-Profit Companies in South Africa. Recently he moved from
Rhett Butler is the founder and CEO of Mongabay, one of the largest, longest running and most important environmental news sites online. Rhett started the site just 20 years ago when an area of rainforest he had visited and enjoyed in Borneo was cut down just eight weeks later, logged down for woodchips to supply a
Before I met Georgina, I’d heard a lot about her. People were always talking about how determined she was to make a difference to the lives of animals around the world. I spoke with her a lot before I met her too. She talked me through three gruelling months of practical welfare work in Vietnam.
With over 800 species of birds in South Africa and over 100 of them threatened, where do you start with trying to conserve them? Growing up in South Africa, Mark Anderson was taken out into the bush for days on end by his grandfather and from an early age he knew that he wanted to
Sara Fee is General Manager of The Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project, a multi-faceted conservation NGO based in a remote region of Gabon, Central Africa. Having spent much of her career in zoos, Sara talks about her transition into the field and the important role zoos played in her conservation journey. Describe your current role? “My role
Are you working in something totally unrelated to conservation and dreaming of switching into a career helping wildlife to flourish? Well that’s exactly what today’s guest has done successfully, and right in at the top. Dominic Jermey OBE worked as a senior British diplomat for over 20 years in countries such as East Timor and
A big appeal of conservation work is the opportunity to travel. But, increasingly, countries are favouring to hire internally. Obviously, this approach is commendable, as governments understand the importance of community buy-in. It has, however, meant those who want to work in these countries find it tougher to gain access and employment. Yet, you needn’t give-up
In this podcast episode we’re speaking to Dr Mike Clarke, Chief Executive of the RSPB. An organisation with over 1.2 million members, 2,000 staff and 13,500 volunteers, the RSPB is a Goliath in the conservation industry and needs no introduction. Mike became a member of the RSPB at age 12 and has worked professionally for them
If you’re looking for hands-on conservation experience but don’t know where to start or are feeling overwhelmed by choice; perhaps you’re mid-career looking to take a break from the grind and get back to nature whilst also exploring new career paths. Joining us this week to discuss these matters and more is Steve Gwenin, Chief
Neil Middleton is the author of the ‘The Effective Ecologist’ which covers the stuff that no-one told you about at university – how to develop your office-related and business skills to succeed in your career as a professional ecologist. An effective ecologist is someone who … Behaves professionally and fully understands how to operate with positive
“My most helpful advice for people looking at ecology careers would be: to reach for your goals. Be determined, be consistent, do not other people tell you that something is not possible. But realistically, you need to work very hard at the right things in order to achieve at a high level”, said Neil Middleton
The Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative encourages dialogue and collaboration to strengthen efforts to protect the Mesoamerican Reef. Ian Drysdale is the Honduras Coordinator of the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative, responsible for data collection and training, as well as partner relations, media and outreach efforts in Honduras. In this interview, Ian talks about
Dr Kerry Kriger is the Founder and Executive Director of Save The Frogs. This USA based charity is on a mission to protect amphibian populations and promote a society that respects and appreciates nature and wildlife. For the last 10 years, their staff and volunteers have created over 2000 educational programs in 57 countries. They
Scott Trageser is the Director and Co-founder of the Creative Conservation Alliance (CCA) and is a member of the Board of Directors for The Biodiversity Group. Having grown up in the United States but now living an itinerant lifestyle, Scott now calls the world his home. As a conservation biologist and photographer behind NatureStills, he
South Africa is home to an abundance of frogs and toads (~130 species) and Dr Jeanne Tarrant is taking a lead to be the saviour for these ‘little’ guys. As the manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Threatened Amphibian Programme (TAP), she and her team aim to address a growing need for the involvement of
Founder of the World Land Trust, a charity which has been running for nearly 30 years; more than a decade as Chief Executive of Fauna & Flora International; and an experienced natural history writer and editor, John has spent his whole life immersed in the natural world and conservation. I spoke to him about his
Oh My! Advice from Panthera’s Dr Wai-Ming Wong on producing a strong grant application. If you love your cats big (and small) then you’ll likely have heard of Panthera, an organization dedicated to the conservation of wild cats of the world. Panthera aims to secure a future for these majestic animals through scientific research and
In theory, the cut and thrust of the corporate world is a far cry from the ideal of the conservation industry. But, conservation is a business, and the skills that make a multi-national corporate thrive, can be utilised to boost conservation projects, too. Prior to 2014, Stuart Isham Fairbairns, the Kruger Business Manager for African
The fear bomb – Terror is the only way to describe what I felt the first time I had to stand up in a dusty, old, dim lecture theatre in front of my university classmates and give a 10 minute talk about my research project. A moment before I was feeling confident in what I
WWF have 58 offices around the globe and around 6,203 staff. Mary Ellen Swenson is a Human Resources Coordinator at WWF and is based at the headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. Her role involves a lot of work in social media, promoting vacancies, shortlisting and doing interviewing. In an interview with Conservation Careers she describes what
