Are you interested in switching careers into conservation? Or perhaps you completed some studies and you wish you’d done something more conservation-y instead? So how do you transition across and how do you reskill? Today we’re talking to Dr Ada Grabowska-Zhang, from the University of Oxford. Ada is the Course Director for the Postgraduate Certificate
This week we’re talking to Victoria Price from Vision Wild, a new organization which designs, implements and evaluates wildlife conservation projects. In this podcast we discuss how to create a successful project and share tips for how to fundraise for conservation projects. We also explore the importance of project management skills for career development. If
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 forwards to
Since Conservation Careers officially launched in 2013, we haven’t stopped learning, growing and innovating – even for a second! This year is no exception – we’ve developed a new conservation training board, ultimate guides, live webinars, and a brand new membership scheme. As we look ahead to a new year, we wanted to reflect on
Calling all writers, bloggers, journalists, communications professionals and aspiring storytellers! Are you passionate about ethical travel, ecotourism or conservation? Would you love to give your career a boost while winning amazing prizes? This is YOUR opportunity! Conservation Careers is partnering with Terra Incognita’s the ethical ecotourism community to find and award the next Travel Blogger
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
Competition when applying for a conservation job can be tough. The good news is that there are more jobs available than ever before. We list over 8,000 conservation jobs on our site each year and that continues to grow. The bad news is there are more people like you looking to work in the sector.
Conservation Careers was launched on 30th September 2013, so today we’re celebrating our sixth birthday! We felt it was a great time to reflect on the Conservation Careers journey so far, and look forward to where we might be going… The History of Conservation Careers I set up Conservation Careers following a diverse career spanning
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
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
We’re often so tight on time and resources in the conservation sector that we don’t invest in one the most important steps in recruitment: writing a great conservation job advertisement. A job advert is a sales document, and its purpose is to attract attention to your role and organisation. If you want to attract the
When the opening line of a story mentions an Aldi bag-for-life full of human poo, you know it’s gonna be worth reading on, right? That story was the winning entry in the Wildlife Blog of the Year competition and written by Gianluca Cerullo. He’s a conservation scientist and writer with a passion for adventure, wildlife
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
Ever wondered what it’s like to drop academia for a different kind of conservation adventure? ‘Mercenary biologist’ Dr Fernando Mateos-González – who we’re so thrilled to have join us in delivering our next Kick-starter online training for Early Career Conservationists course – did just that. Fernando is a Spanish biologist with a PhD in Behavioural
In this episode we’re speaking to a young, budding conservationist, Ruben Hoekstra, at the very start of his career. Ruben attended the prestigious Future For Nature Awards, where talented young conservationists from across the globe win support for their projects alongside a tasty cash prize of €50,000. Normally in these podcasts we speak with professional
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
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
In this episode we’re speaking to a rising star in conservation, Jack Randall. Jack is a global adventurer on a quest to find, study and promote the world’s most amazing animals. He began sharing his wildlife stories as a wildlife filmmaker and cameraman whilst traipsing through the jungles of the Amazon researching anacondas. And since
A conservationist’s account of fieldwork in Borneo – starring a bag full of his own poo – packs a powerful message of hope for biodiversity in heavily degraded, yet surprisingly resilient tropical rainforests, winning the 2018 Wildlife Blogger of the Year competition (sponsored by CC). Destruction of tropical rainforests often seems like a one-track countdown to biodiversity
The Iberian Wolf: It can smell and hear its prey from miles away, has a huge territory and, with a top speed of 30mph, can dart across a field in seconds. So to see one you’d have to be at exactly the right spot at the right time. This’ll be easy, we thought to ourselves.
As I apprehensively shuffled into the cage, my gut clenched and my heart stopped…I immediately knew that I was in a bad place, and I desperately wanted to run straight back out. But something stronger told me to carry on, and that by enduring the next hour in this awful place I could find hope
My nostrils had already been assaulted by months of trekking through the Bornean rainforest with an Aldi bag-for-life full of my own poo. Such is the price of conducting research on dung beetles. The one bonus? I thought I had become immunised to bad smells. But the putrid stench of carrion slammed me like a
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
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
Alvaro Cubero is a celebrated Costa Rican Wildlife Photographer who’s work has been published in National Geographic, is a TEDX Speaker, and a finalist of the Smithsonia Institute Photo Contest. “During a typical day as a wildlife photographer, my favorite moment is when I am in front an animal, and I can see into its nicked eyes
Have you ever dreamt about going on a conservation expedition? Travelling to a remote corner of the globe to explore and discover the wildlife found there? Where would you start? What would be the destination and what would be its purpose? Who would you choose to take with you? Perhaps most importantly of all, how
“Almost everything is off the grid and you have to think very creatively about what you do,” Hillary Fenrich, the Experiential Learning Coordinator at Crees, excitingly points out. The Crees Foundation explores the value of a regenerating rainforest from a research station inside the buffer zone between two protected areas in the Manu Biosphere Reserve,
It all started with octopuses… In southern Madagascar, the community of Vezo became concerned that their fisheries were in decline. Blue Ventures, an award-winning marine conservation organisation stepped in and supported temporary closures of fishing zones, as a result, octopus landings increased dramatically, and local incomes grew. News soon spread and Blue Ventures introduced the Locally
The Wildlife Blogger of the Year 2018 competition has opened for entries. We’re calling on bloggers from around the world to put their favourite wildlife moment into the spotlight, in 800 words or fewer. Sponsored by SWAROVSKI OPTIK, organised by Terra Incognita and with prizes from Conservation Careers, the competition aims to celebrate storytelling for
After working over 12 years for Blue Ventures, an NGO that focuses on rebuilding tropical fisheries with coastal communities, Frances Humber has dedicated her entire professional career to non-profit and social enterprises and has a wealth of experience in marine conservation. I was fortunate enough to speak with Fran about how she developed from a
