Written by Anja Heid, Employability Adviser

On Wednesday evening, over 60 Animal Behaviour and Zoology students braved the cold and stormy weather (thanks guys!) to hear from 4 great speakers about career options following their degrees. If you decided to stay indoors or couldn’t make it, read on to benefit from the useful advice the speakers shared about breaking into careers in zoos, ecological consultancy and animal welfare.

First up was Sally Conyers, Ecological Consultant at engineering firm Jacobs. A provider of technical, professional and construction services, Jacobs’ portfolio also includes scientific and specialty consulting. Sally mostly works on infrastructure projects to carry out environmental and ecological impact assessments for clients like Cheshire East Highways or Lancashire County Council. Her protected species and habitat surveys inform the planning process as well as pre- and post-construction activities. Sally’s work is very varied, and includes everything from moving protected species like the Great Crested Newt to supervising vegetation clearance to building a new sett for and then helping badgers move home (apparently they’re yours for a handful of peanuts!).

As with most jobs, there are some downsides of the profession, such as late nights and early mornings, the joys of working in muddy and smelly surroundings (lots of animal poo around!), the difficulty of securing a permanent job at the start of your career, and did I mention the animal poo? BUT – you also get to see places nobody else does and experience nature like not many people do (late at night and early in the morning)!

Sally’s advice for developing useful skills and experience for this field of work included:

• Choose optional modules that allow you to develop skills in phase 1 habitat surveys and other practical field skills.
• Volunteer with local bat or amphibian and reptile conservation groups, as this can help you to gain licences (e.g. Great Crested Newt Licence), access training courses and find out about relevant vacancies through word of mouth!
• Look out for seasonal work – this is a great way of developing relevant survey experience.
• Read up about competencies required in ecological consultancy, e.g. the Technical Guide Series on the CIEEM website: https://www.cieem.net/technical-guidance-series-tgs-

Next up was Evalin Casson, Wildlife Consultant and Avian Biologist at SafeSkys. Evalin works on mitigating wildlife strikes on and around airfields creating ideas and interventions based on her understanding of bird behaviour to avoid lethal action against birds on airfields. She showed us some scary videos of the impact of bird strikes on military and passenger airplanes to illustrate the importance of her work. All airfields need a wildlife management hazard plan, which Evalin and her colleagues create based on their surveys and analysis. They are using an innovative approach based on understanding and targeting animal behaviour to avoid lethal action and aim for more eco-friendly wildlife control. Researching and applying different theories gives Evalin a lot of freedom in the direction of her work and makes this a varied, enjoyable and impactful role. Her previous experience as a zookeeper and conservation work with Earth Watch has given Evalin the foundation to move into this position.

Evalin’s tips for building up your career in conservation, zookeeping or wildlife consultancy include:

• Tailor your hobbies to your chosen career. Her own hobbies of PADI diving and bird ringing not only showed prospective employers her enthusiasm for wildlife but also meant she could offer relevant practical skills.
• Take up work experience and volunteering opportunities to gain practical skills and develop your network in the industry. However, do your research into organisations, especially if you go abroad. Evalin had a negative experience at UAE Zoo, where she was lied to in the interview regarding welfare standards and animal care, and ended up leaving as there was no willingness to change.
• Small zoos/organisations can be excellent stepping stones as you will get more hands-on experience, e.g. assisting with vet visits.
• If you want to go into zookeeping, know what to expect: it’s very competitive, hard work, low pay, messy and smelly, BUT you do get to see animals in a different light and can form wonderful relationships with some of them. Once again, do your research to find out whether the zoo is non-contact, as this means most time is spent on cleaning and food preparation and not a lot with the animals themselves.

Following our food and networking break (no sandwich spared), Paul Dunne, gave us an insight into his role as an RSPCA inspector. He started by showing a video to illustrate the wide variety of animals and environments involved in their work. The direct route to qualifying as an RSPCA Inspector is by completing their yearlong training course, but opportunities also exist to work with the RSPCA as an animal collector to build up further experience before applying for the training course. Please check https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/jobs/becomeaninspector/information for further details about entry requirements and the training.

Paul highlighted the importance of being able to deal with people in challenging situations and remaining calm and collected. The RSPCA cannot forcibly remove animals from their home but must persuade the owner to sign over the animal into RSPCA care. Communicating effectively and strong interpersonal skills are essential. Although the majority of owners are ignorant rather than deliberately cruel, RSPCA staff will see the impact of severe animal abuse, so mental resilience is also required, as well as the flexibility to deal with unexpected situations and willingness to work long hours – animals don’t operate a 9 to 5 schedule! Although the RSPCA aims to rehome all animals taken into their care, sometimes this is simply not possible because animals are too severely ill or injured, so Paul also highlighted that RSPCA inspectors will at times be required to put animals to sleep.

Our career event was brought to an interesting end by Dr Leah Williams, Behaviour Officer at Chester Zoo. Leah’s role focuses on optimising the welfare of animals in Chester Zoo’s collection. This involves running the applied animal behaviour and welfare programme, supervising students on industrial placements or conducting Masters and PhD research, and being responsible for science communication through delivering both internal and external events, e.g. staff training, workshops and lectures for members of the public or university groups. Leah conducts behaviour surveys but also uses technology, such as CCTV, camera trapping or sound/visual monitoring, to collect data about animal behaviour at the zoo.

Leah’s tips for preparing for a career in this sector include:

• Develop both your technical/scientific skills (such as data manipulation and analysis, presenting, report writing) and your people skills (teamwork, communication, managing others, facilitation skills).
• Demonstrate relevant personal qualities such as passion, enthusiasm, reliability and flexibility.
• Gain relevant experience through volunteering and internships to show you are serious about pursuing a career in this field!

If you were unable to make it to the event and wish to receive the presentations given by the speakers please email careers@ljmu.ac.uk or call into Byrom Street Careers Zone.

To keep an eye out for more careers events and fairs taking place go to:  https://careers.ljmu.ac.uk/Default.aspx.