Conservation Careers Podcast

Have you considered going back to university and doing a Master's Degree in order to become more employable within the sector?   Perhaps you’ve looked at many programmes and wondered if they are tooling you up with the right skills employers value.   In today’s podcast, we’re speaking with Dr Stephen Green who’s the course leader for an exciting new Master's programme, designed and delivered in pa...

In this episode we’re speaking with the Deputy Global Conservation Director at WWF International, Cristianne Close.  Cris describes herself as ‘passionate about creating positive change in the world, especially aiming to make the impossible, possible’.  In this episode, we discuss how she gave up a fast-paced corporate career to follow her purpose and work in conservation.   Now, as a senior staff...

Have you ever felt like escaping the rat race and travelling the world? Seeking impact, adventure and new experiences? Perhaps volunteering for nature conservation organisations, and setting yourself for a career change or education when you return? But with the world as your playground … where do you start? How do you plan such a trip to ensure your time and money are well spent? Today we’re spea...

Increasingly, the private sector is taking a growing interest in their impact on wildlife, and this could lead to a much-needed step change in conservation efforts. But why do companies care about nature? How can they assess and minimise their impacts? And what sort of jobs are opening up for conservationists seeking to work in this exciting area of change? Here to discuss these topics and many mo...

How do you raise nearly $100,000,000 per year to protect and conserve America’s 420+ National Park Sites?  Sites important for recreation, education, and the conservation of endangered landscapes, natural communities and species.  We discuss this, amongst many other things, with Lise Aangeenbrug.  Lise is the Chief Program Officer at America’s National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partn...

Have you ever felt like you’re energetically exhausted, mentally distant from your job, or less able to produce results at work? There’s a chance that these symptoms could be related to burnout. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), burnout is a syndrome “…resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” As conservationists, our work is our passion, but...

If you’ve spent time in the UK and visited a local nature reserve, then chances are you’ve been to a site managed by one of the 46 individual Wildlife Trusts that collectively represent 2,000 staff, 35,000 volunteers and nearly 1 million members.   Helping to coordinate this huge force for nature is the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts of which today’s guest is their Deputy Chief Executive.  Patie...

How important are volunteers in conservation?  What are the different types of work you can do as a volunteer, and how can it benefit your career?  We answer these and many more questions in discussion with today’s guest Rhoda Ludford.  Rhoda is the Volunteering Development Consultant with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - Europe’s largest wildlife conservation organisation with over...

We ran a live event in partnership with Conservation Optimism, to explore and celebrate the work of Dr Charu Mishra - the world’s foremost expert on snow leopard conservation, and double Whitley Gold Award Winner. Conservation Optimism is a global community dedicated to inspiring people to make a positive difference for nature, and co-hosting the live event with me was Sofia Castelló y Tickell.  T...

Why should more conservationists learn to study people?   To better understand them as individuals, communities and societies, alongside their complex behaviours and interactions.  This is what today’s podcast is all about, and it’s something termed social science.  Here to discuss the power of social science for conservation is today’s guest Dr Rebecca Jefferson.  Rebecca runs Human Nature, a soc...

  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 the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife in Aus...

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 growing rapidly and i...

    What role do schoolchildren play in conservation efforts?   Why target them specifically, and how do you successfully establish and grow a conservation enterprise from scratch - now empowering over 13,000 young people to help tackle climate change and wildlife conservation.  That’s what today’s inspiring guest - Laura Dempsey - has achieved with Volunteers for Future.  Volunteers for Future ha...

How do people and nature interact? How does nature benefit people? Which interactions have the greatest impacts, and how can research into these questions help tackle some of the biggest issues facing wildlife today?  These are some of the questions which today’s guest has dedicated his career to tackling.  Kevin Gaston is a Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation at the University of Exeter. ...

In conservation, some issues tend to get a lot of attention from the donors when other, equally important issues, can be ignored.  What do you do in this situation to raise the profile, and much-needed funding, to conserve the overlooked species, sites and ecosystems?  To discuss this and more we’re speaking with Nina Seale from Synchronicity Earth .  Synchronicity Earth aims to be a different kin...

Have you ever had a BIG idea that grabbed your attention and got you excited? And if you have, did you know how to start turning your idea into reality? Todays’ guest is a career switcher doing just this.  Tara Phillips is a Ted-X speaker coach who is developing an exciting idea to start an inspiring physical space where people can learn, convene and campaign about soil and soil-related issues. Ca...

Many of us will have visited aquariums and marvelled at the marine life on display. But what role can an Aquarium have in supporting conservation efforts?  Here to discuss this and other topics is today’s guest Elizabeth Stephenson.  Elizabeth is the Program Director of the New England Aquarium’s Marine Conservation Action Fund - a grants programme that provides support for community-based and loc...

In this special conversation we're celebrating the 100th episode of the Conservation Careers Podcast! The CC Podcast was launched on 21st June 2018, and over the past five years we've talked to so many different people within the conservation sector, played with the format and enjoyed the ride.  We're proud to say that we've had 152,136 unique podcast downloads and a typical episode gets 1,500 to...

Our guest in this episode is a good friend and someone I’ve wanted to get on the show since day one.   Described as the real-life Indiana Jones, Niall McCann is a TV Presenter, Explorer, and Biologist.  Niall has travelled the planet on biological expeditions in some of the most remote parts of the globe, and joins the show today to discuss his role as Director of Conservation for National Park Re...

In this very special episode of the podcast, we take you behind the scenes of our NEW Conservation Pathway Programme. The Conservation Pathway Programme is designed to help career switchers like you discover how to confidently switch your career to conservation with expert guidance and support. In this episode I'm joined by Starlight Mundy, Business Growth Strategist and Community Accelerator, who...

How do you switch careers from something entirely unrelated to wildlife and start to carve out a role for yourself in the conservation sector? How do you find your purpose, network effectively, get training support and secure high-quality experiences which can transform your work? In this episode, guest Edward Sanders discusses how he overcame these challenges and more. Ed has worked in the UK, Fa...

Can you picture yourself rescuing, rehabilitating or even releasing individuals from a Critically Endangered species in the wild? Or translocating wolves from Canada to be released in Yellowstone National Park in the US? Those are just two examples of the work of Dr. Malcolm McAdie, a Canadian wildlife veterinarian who’s worked with species such as wolves, snakes, Bald Eagle and Critically Endange...

What role do zoos play in conservation, why is diversity important and how can you get upskilled to have more impact?  We discuss these topics in front of an audience from within our CC Pro community on today’s podcast with Dr Helen Gath from the Durrell Conservation Academy.  Helen is a conservation ecologist passionate about enthusing others to protect the natural world. She holds a PhD on the M...

Stella Diamant is a passionate conservation biologist who founded the Madagascar Whale Shark Project, introduced a code of conduct for whale shark tourism, initiated an environmental education programme for Malagasy youth, and has identified almost 500 individual Whale Sharks.   She’s now working in collaboration with other NGOs and has helped ensure the code of conduct is being added to Malagasy...

In this episode we’re speaking with Lucy Standing, who’s the Co-Founder of Brave Starts which offers career change and start-up business programmes to help people over 50 lead more purposeful lives.  Lucy talks openly about the challenges mature people face in their careers and within the workplace.  We discuss why age is being ignored in discussions about diversity and inclusion, and what can be...