So you want a career in conservation? Great! Whether you are an accountant who has just decided that maybe conservation is your thing, or you have just finished a degree in Conservation Management, you have come to the right place. You have to start somewhere, and here are some things you will be able to
Following the advice from Sarashka King’s ‘How to become a Conservation Volunteer?‘ Conservation Careers Blogger Hannah De Frond explores the many positives that you can gain from a volunteering experience, and why she would recommend it to anyone, especially those aiming to pursue a career in conservation. Field Skills You can gain many field skills
Rab Nawaz is WWF Pakistan’s Director of the Sindh Region. Here he shares his passion for conservation, the Western Tragopan and Pakistan’s wildlife with Conservation Careers Blogger, Zehra Zawawi. What is your role at WWF Pakistan and what are your main duties? My title at WWF Pakistan is Director Sindh but I also look after
Rachael Forster is the Community Wildlife Officer for ORCA, an organisation working to protect the UK’s whales and dolphins from threats such as shipping, fishing, noise pollution and marine litter. ORCA’s work has helped the UK government identify whale and dolphin hotspots, contributed to the conservation status of species found in UK waters and created
Documentary films are not only entertaining to watch, they can also be eye opening and a great reminder of why it is that we should care about conservation, by showcasing the life around us and the threats it faces. Here, Conservation Careers blogger Hannah De Frond has whittled down a list of top 10 documentary
Rewilding – creating controversy and excitement in equal measure on the wildlife conservation world. Can we bring back species long lost from environments and learn to live with them? How did we manage to lose so much in the first place? What are the benefits of bringing back certain species, financially, spiritually and ecologically? There
Mining and energy operations have some of the most transformative impacts on the planet, with the power to strip landscapes, alter ecosystems and forever change societies. In this interview, Fauna & Flora International’s Business & Biodiversity Director, Pippa Howard, explains how working with business can create large-scale conservation benefits and how to join this emerging
Matt Williams is a conservationist and wildlife photographer who works as a climate change policy officer for the RSPB and helps to run A Focus on Nature. Here he shares his five key pieces of advice for pursuing a career in conservation. 1. Go beyond 9-5 If you want to really succeed in any sector, you’re going to
This week we’re speaking to Chris Gerrard. He tells us about his role as Anglian Water’s Climate Change and Biodiversity Manager, his fascinating career path to date, and provides some practical advice for people looking for a job in conservation. What’s it like being the Climate Change and Biodiversity Manager at Anglian Water? I’ve got
As a devotee of amateur nature recording with a passion for trees and woods, it’s fair to say that Citizen Science Manager for the Woodland Trust, Dr Kate Lewthwaite, is in her dream job. She tells us how a combination of biding her time and being proactive got her to where she is today, talks
Spanish native Kike Calvo, National Geographic Expeditions photography expert, award-winning photographer and journalist, is now based in New York and represented by National Geographic Creative. Having travelled to over 95 countries to compile a portfolio of environmental and cultural documentary photos, in addition to pioneering the use of small manned aerial systems in photography, it
Evi Indraswati’s story doesn’t unfold amidst the sterile silence of a laboratory, but within the harsh realities of communities in Indonesia’s Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (TNBBS), grappling with environmental degradation and unsustainable fishing practices. Witnessing their unwavering spirit and deep-rooted knowledge ignited a passion within Evi: to bridge the gap between these communities and
Katie Propp is an ecologist and wildlife educator, currently working as the Conservation Education Director at Penguins International. With 18 years of experience in the field of wildlife conservation, Katie shares her tips and tricks in delivering effective science communication, as well as her advice for landing your very own dream job with wildlife. Katie’s
Jetske Bouma is a Dutch environmental economist working for PBL, the Environmental Assessment Agency the Netherlands (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving). With over twenty years of experience in research and policy evaluation in this field, Jetske has worked internationally on important environmental economic projects from Costa Rica to India. As a teenager wanting to make a
As a student in Portugal, a conversation with botanist Jorge Paiva spurred Sara Barrios to apply for an internship that led her to the Herbarium at Kew Gardens. Some 16 years later, fresh from fieldwork in the British Virgin Islands, Sara spoke to me about her role as Conservation Partnership Coordinator for the UK Overseas
Tomos is the Head of International Programmes at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), an international conservation charity based in the UK. Read on to discover Tomos’ motivations for conserving nature, the benefit of understanding your own skillset, and the future of conservation. What led you to your current position at WWT? I studied Biology
Internships can help rising conservationists kick start their careers, develop vital skills, boost their networks, and make a lasting impact on both society and biodiversity. These insights come directly from Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) interns, who shared their stories and experiences in interviews and surveys. CLP is a partnership of three of the world’s leading
Emily Cunningham is a key figure in the field of UK marine conservation and works tirelessly as an advocate for healthier oceans. Her vision is for local politicians to recognise the key role they can play in the fight for ocean recovery, and for local communities to feel empowered to protect our seas. In this
Lydia Greene is a lemur scientist carrying out research at North Carolina’s Duke Lemur Center. Based in Durham, United States, the center is internationally acclaimed for its pioneering work conducted via non-invasive methods of research. Housing over 200 lemurs and bushbabies branching across 13 species, the center is believed to hold the most diverse population
Mara Huang is a Master’s student in Animal and Rangeland Science at University of Nevada in Reno, United States. Her focus is on rangelands and currently she is carrying out research on Snowstorm Kochia, a non-native plant species in the Western US. Her field work positions as a technician and field crew lead in several
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
After over a decade leading efforts to protect Argentina’s wild cats, Dr Erica Cuyckens, Assistant Researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) in Argentina, describes her recent career change to focus on the conservation of queñoa trees – and why she has no regrets. Migrating from Belgium to Argentina as an exchange
This week we welcomed five new Social Media Officers to the Conservation Careers team as part-time, remote volunteers. We know that it can be hard – and sometimes impossible – for conservationists to receive feedback from employers about their job applications (just check out our survey Conservation Job Applications | Key Stats). To help, we’re
Claire Wansbury is the Associate Director of Ecology at Atkins, a large engineering and environmental consultancy. Most of her time is spent advising on the protection of wildlife on major infrastructure projects such as road schemes and railways. She also works on introducing new approaches within the industry, like Biodiversity Net Gain and Natural Capital
Dr Nirmal Jivan Shah, Chief Executive of Nature Seychelles, explores the unhealthy relationship with nature that led to the COVID-19 health pandemic; it’s impacts on ecosystems, local economies and conservation; and new opportunities like sustainable tourism and changes in governance. Origin Story (Zoo: English = of animal; noses: Greek = disease) In 2006, in an
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
Jenny MacKay is Reserves Officer for The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The Trust manages 128 nature reserves (covering 2,400 hectares of land) for the benefit of people and wildlife in the UK. It also works to make these wildlife havens bigger, better and more joined-up – vital to help wildlife to adapt to a
“Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world” – Paulo Coelho When faced with saving the world from the growing pressures of the human population, conservationists have many hurdles to overcome. Like fighting a fire on several fronts, we must tackle deforestation, poaching,
Roz Evans is a wildlife science communicator and community events organiser, who recently featured in Exeter University’s 41 most inspirational women in science. She is also the brains behind the amazing new nature magazine BIOSPHERE, which reports on the latest discoveries from the fields of ecology, conservation, climate, behaviour, evolution and physiology. Conservation Careers chatted
Tourism and conservation might seem at odds, but with more than 1.1 billion tourists travelling every year and a growing demand for environmentally and culturally responsible tourism, the sector is poised to have a positive impact on nature – if the right people get involved. According to Leonie Bowles, Corporate Partnerships Officer with Conservation Volunteers
