Have you ever dreamt about a career exploring the coral reefs of the south Pacific, diving in Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and all the lost corners of Papua New Guinea? Perhaps you’d love to spend time with the local communities whose lives depend on the health of their forests and fisheries, working in partnership
Garry Oye started his career in 1978 as a Wilderness Ranger in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho, USA. He worked for National Forests in Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and California, where his last two jobs with the National Forests were Group Leader for Wilderness, Rivers and Special Areas and District Ranger on the Inyo National
On average every five minutes an albatross dies accidentally behind a fishing boat. Caught on a hook set for a fish, entangled in a net or striking a tensioned wire. During this episode a number of albatrosses will die needlessly. Dr Ben Sullivan has dedicated his career to tackling similar marine conservation issues. Starting with a PhD
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
Mark Thomas works as Senior Field Staff for Crees Manu – teaching and training the next generation of conservation enthusiasts, dedicated to protecting the Amazon and its people. Mark is from Brighton, London in the UK and after working in a bank for nine years, he decided he wanted something different out of life. He explained
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
There are many times in our lives when we might find ourselves at crossroads looking for purpose and direction. At these times, we might feel stuck and confused and perhaps we don’t know what to do. And if we do have a sense of what we need to do, we might find ourselves lacking the courage
Have you ever considered doing a conservation science master’s course to kick-start your career in conservation? What would completing a masters course (degree) achieve? Is it right for you and would it lead to a conservation job? These are some of the topics covered in a wide-ranging discussion with Brendan Godley, Professor of Conservation Science
In this podcast we’re speaking with Professor Ken Norris, Director of Science at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Ken leads the ZSL Institute of Zoology, the world’s only university in a zoo, and also oversees the vet teams who look after the welfare of animals at London and Whipsnade zoos. He’s a busy guy!
Nick Huisman works for the European Wilderness Society and is based in Austria. His main job is to develop new Wilderness projects with his colleagues for submission to national and international conservation programmes. It may sound like a boring desk job, but Nick and his team play an important role in designating and stewarding Europe’s
Don’t let anyone talk you away from your dreams, says Conservation Biologist Dr Fernando Mateos González, who will be helping deliver our next Kick-starter online training for Early Career Conservationists – open until this Friday. In his free time, Fernando runs Bioblogia.net, where he helps students and early career professionals find their dream environmental job. Whether sharing job
What do you do if you’ve got a great degree, stacks of quality volunteer and intern experience in nature conservation but then spend over six months applying for jobs without a single interview? Having left university, this is what faced our guest today, Chris Thompson. He decided to try a different approach and one which
In 1968 the global population of a small brown bird called the Seychelles Warbler, according to Nature Seychelles, was down to just 30 individuals. Habitat destruction and predation by introduced species like rats had driven the birds to the very edge of extinction and it was listed as critically endangered. Cycle forwards 50 years 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
Heather McFarlane is Former Director of Communications and Fundraising at the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) and is responsible for growing the income and the number of supporters for the UK conservation charity. What are you most proud of achieving in your work? I’m really proud of our Big Bat Map, which is a website that
Joan O’Shaughnessy is a Conservation Scientist who switched from Laywer to managing the Dixon Prairie and the Skokie River Corridor with the Chicago Botanic Garden. Joan bravely decided to leave her stable (if personally unfulfilling) career as an attorney to achieve her dream of working outside, in the elements, with plants. Joan’s story demonstrates that
In conservation, a gender gap can be evident, with women being under-represented in many countries. Often, the barrier to entry is not due to a lack of intelligence and education for the science roles, or a lack of strength for the fieldwork, but a lack of respect and belief from others. Females face stereotypical perceptions
David Hetherington works as the ecology advisor at the Cairngorms National Park Authority. His career goal is to help ecological restoration in the Scottish Highlands through consensus and collaboration with a range of people, including land managers, conservationists, scientists and the wider public. In addition to his day job, through a growing network of colleagues
Dr Ada Grabowska-Zhang is the Course Director for the Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Ecological Survey Techniques. Here she tells Conservation Careers about the exciting one year, part-time course providing the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to conduct effective ecological field surveys and data analysis for a range of key taxa… What is the Ecological Survey
Ashley Vosper is an experienced conservation field scientist who uses his skills to increase our knowledge and understanding of the distribution of species, how many there are and what threats they face. He then creates action plans that can help protect them. He has worked extensively in the Congo, as well as Afghanistan, and is
Michelle Proulx is the Director of animal care and educational programmes at W.O.L.F Sanctuary, Colorado, USA. W.O.L.F is an acronym for Wolves Offered Life and Friendship. The wolf conservation charity rescues captive-born wolves and wolf dogs that have previously been kept as pets and provides them with a permanent life long home at the sanctuary’s facility,
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
Have you ever met someone whose energy exudes from them so powerfully that you cannot help but be affected? Well that is Dionne. I first met Dionne Slagter – Animal Welfare Manager – in Hanoi, Vietnam. She was to be my supervisor for three months on an animal welfare project we were working on. I was
John Aitchison is a BAFTA and Emmy award winning wildlife filmmaker. Working on programmes such as Planet Earth II and the recent Dynasties series on BBC, John has had a firsthand insight into how humans are changing the natural world. Here, he talks about some of his experiences, discussing when we should intervene with the
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
