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Early Career / Feed

Just starting your conservation tech career path? Our Early Career group is the best place to network, chat about your master's projects, and seek advice from your peers and those who have been down this path before! Join now to get to know community members and students from around the world!

careers

WILDLABS-WWF Graduate Intern

WILDLABS Team and 1 more

17 April 2025 6:06pm

Come work with WILDLABS at WWF-US! We are seeking a graduate intern to support our State of Conservation Technology research. The role will be focused on delivering a 5-year trends report capturing the evolution of the...

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discussion

Planning a Gap Year

Karinna Cvijanovich

4 April 2025 2:08pm

Hello, all! I've just deferred my Master of Engineering at Dartmouth (where I'll be studying electrical engineering) to take some time exploring opportunities in conservation and...

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Adrien Pajot

4 April 2025 2:52pm

Hi Karinna, 

That seems that a great plan and lots of nice skills to bring in!

Don't hesitate to search the member directory or the organisations inventory to find suitable place for you to go to. It really depends on what you would like to do and where you want to go (or can go). 

Wishing you the best in your search. 

 

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discussion

How can I start a career in conservation technology?

Max

20 March 2025 10:58pm

Hi, I am a 16 year old student in the UK currently in secondary school, I am interested in conservation technology and I would like to pursue it in the future. I have been...

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Alex Rood

21 March 2025 4:03pm

So great to hear that you're interested in this incredible sector! I echo Tom in that I don't know of too many specific "conservation tech" degrees as it's such an interdisciplinary field. Perhaps Intro to Conservation Tech Course would be helpful in learning about which direction is most interesting to you to pursue?

Emma Higgins

2 April 2025 10:03am

Hi @ziggy_4 , 

I agree with those who commented before, there are a lot of ways to get into the field. I went down the Biology route and then learnt more via my PhD. 

However, we have a Conservation Technology Module as Part of out Wildlife Biology BSc at the University of South Wales - BSc (Hons) International Wildlife Biology - University of South Wales . The course is being rewritten to be 'Ecology and Conservation' and will include this new Conservation Technology Module, where we also link with our engineering department. 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me - emma.higgins@southwales.ac.uk 

Good luck! 

 

@Frank_van_der_Most  - thanks for the tag!

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funding

Multiple grants

Frank van der Most

28 March 2025 1:42pm

I have been a bit distracted the past months by my move from Costa Rica to Spain ( all went well, thank you, I just miss the rain forest and the Ticos ) and have to catch up on funding calls. Because I still have little...

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discussion

Seeking to contribute to this space

Tanakrit Hansuranant

22 March 2025 10:17am

Hi there,I'm Jin from Thailand, currently working as a Tech Consultant for almost a decade. I may not have direct work experience in the field that experts in this community have...

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Soumya Bhattacharyya

23 March 2025 1:06am

Hi Tanakrit, 

Thanks for your post and welcome! 

I am almost in the same boat as you, with some differences. 

You might lookup my old post here

https://wildlabs.net/discussion/switch-conservation-it

As I am trying to figure it out, there is no set framework or template to follow. You can try the following which I plan to try as well:

Finish the Wildlabs courses.

Try the inventory section and check if any company/ org has any overlapping skillset as yours. Contact them with your interest. 

Network in any group of interest.

Reach out for volunteering/ citizen science program where you see any.

Associate with other conservation tech people in your area.

There may be more. But these are some I could quickly think about. 

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discussion

Sea turtle Bioacoustics Project

Sam Jamil

17 February 2025 8:16pm

Hi everyone, I have an opportunity to work with Green sea turtles and Olive ridleys off the coast of Sri Lanka, this will be my first bioacoustics conservation project. I would...

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Claudia Lacroix

7 March 2025 12:47pm

Hi Sam, I  did my master's on hatchling turtle vocalisations and their role in nest emergence behaviours (currently under review for publication). I recorded nest emergence behaviour in-situ using microphones and camera traps. I worked with snapping turtles, but the methods could be quite useful. I would be happy to share my thesis if that would be helpful.

there are a few sea turtle papers that describe hatchling vocalisations but not many experiments testing hypotheses for these vocalisations. 

here are some papers that could help you get you started:

Shoot me a message if interested in chatting more :)

 

M Zahirul Islam

7 March 2025 1:32pm

Hello Sam ...great work, would like to see the paper when it comes online. I would like to know about the device....Bests Zahir

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careers

Wildlife Monitoring Internship 2025

Alex Rood

3 March 2025 3:02pm

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (SNZCBI) is seeking an intern to assist with multiple projects related to conservation technology for wildlife monitoring. SNZCBI scientists collect data...

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discussion

Conservation Tech Career Pathways - what do you want to know? 

Stephanie O'Donnell

17 June 2022 1:30pm

Hi wildlabbers, I made a casual comment in my post in the friday check in thread: This week I'm seeing a lot of questions coming up about career paths in #tech4wildlife...

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Savithri K

20 April 2024 5:36pm

Unfortunately , not yet . Still digging into it in my free time. And trying to setup a camera in my bord feeder for a mini conservation project in my back garden :) 

Savithri K

20 April 2024 5:41pm

Hi Soumya , 

 

Interested to know if you are pursuing distance education in ML while at your current job. I would love to hear more about your journey on course specifics and the platform you use to complete the education, and I would love to hear if you have any recommendations based on your experiences.

Thanks, 
Savi

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discussion

 advice on tech and conservation career

Adam Sundelin

21 October 2024 5:41pm

Hi,I am a Swedish national who grew up in Southern Africa. I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Zoology, Master's courses in GIS, and some field experience. I am looking for an...

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Jared Marley

21 November 2024 8:16pm

Hi Adam, 

I am an employer in wildlife tech in Canada. Unfortunately, we don't have an overlap with your skill set and training but I can offer some advice. 

From an employer perspective, I always prefer hiring people with a passion and background in wildlife. However, it is extraordinarily rare to get applicants with this background. A combo of applicable technical training and passion/experience in wildlife at least for me is a guarunteed interview. I would recommend you do an extensive search of potential employers in wildlife tech and start introducing yourself. Call, email, visit ones close if you can, even if they are not actively hiring. 

You may also want to consider going to the dark side to get an early stage boost - for profit environmental consulting often done by engineering firms. They always need GIS work. The work of course is environmental compliance for development purposes not conservation but you get a lot of hours and gain seniority quickly if you choose to move back to the good side. 

Lots of service side or non-profits at the least view GIS as an asset so you may have luck there. Organizations doing drone work would be a good place to start.

For your resume, some feedback:
 

  •  I prefer a 1 or 2 page max resume for an early stage person. You can cut some block text from your descriptions. You may want to format the resume using a designed template as well.
  • A photo of yourself, date of birth, and health status are not common or expected in North America. Most employers do not want to overtly get this information and may filter out your resume because of it. Consider a separate format for N. America if you look here. 

Best of luck in your job search.

Elsa Carla De Grandi

20 February 2025 9:32pm

Hi @Adamtours , in case you are still looking for an internship this opportunity at SOLOM EARTH might interest you. Alternatively, the Satellite Applications Catapult will be advertising soon several interhsips (they may or may not be conservation related though but keep an eye out for those).

Hope this helps!

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discussion

Guidance for a career changer

Manish Gadhvi

13 January 2025 10:30pm

Hello everyone,I hope this message finds you well. I’m reaching out to this community as I’m currently transitioning into a career focused on data engineering and analysis, with a...

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Alexander Merdian-Tarko

29 January 2025 6:57pm

Hi Manish,

There are other related posts here on WILDLABS with some potentially interesting answers, e. g. this post. Perhaps you might find some useful information there in case you haven't seen it already. Volunteering in that area might also be an interesting entry point.

Cheers,

Alex

Manish Gadhvi

1 February 2025 4:42pm

Hey Frank, Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate your insights. It’s cool to see the different paths available in this field. I feel like I’m just starting out and trying to figure out which technologies are key in these industries. 

 

I’m aiming to move from a Data Analyst role to a Data Engineer as that seems to be a standard progression My background is in API and full-stack development with Java/Spring. Right now, I’m diving into Python data libraries and brushing up on my SQL skills. 

 

I’ve put together a simple data pipeline using the Open Weather API (check it out here: https://github.com/MGadhvi/weather-etl) and did some analysis on rhino sighting data from the IUCN (you can find it here: https://github.com/MGadhvi/iucn-rhino-analysis). I’m currently working on a similar project with a larger dataset from the IUCN, using Google Cloud Platform to handle the heavy lifting. 

 

I’m thinking it might be a good idea to find a data role elsewhere to get some experience before jumping into conservation efforts. It might be better to volunteer if possible to learn the ropes 

 

Thanks again for your help. Much appreciated 

 

Best, Manish Gadhvi

Manish Gadhvi

1 February 2025 4:46pm

Hi Alex,

Thank you for your reply. I've used Kaggle before but I've never heard of the others.

I'm hoping to start volunteering at my local zoo soon as well so I'll see if there is anything I can do there

All the best,

Manish 

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discussion

Undergrad team available to tackle conservation problem statements

Colleen R O'Donnell

21 January 2025 6:37pm

Is anyone out there interested in pairing with an undergrad team of students to help you tackle your research problem?This is through the University of Maryland's environmental...

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Lucie Gallegos

31 January 2025 9:38pm

Hi Colleen,

Thank you for sharing this exciting opportunity. I am Lucie, International Development Manager of Natural Solutions. We are a company at the intersection of biodiversity and tech for over 15 years. We specialize in developing digital tools for conservation organizations, researchers, and policymakers, helping them collect, analyze, and visualize biodiversity data. More recently, we’ve been exploring new possibilities and began to analyze what we could propose to businesses to support them in understanding their dependencies and impacts on nature (impact assessment platforms that help companies quantify their environmental footprint, define relevant indicators, and develop actionable biodiversity strategies etc)

We would be interested in exploring whether this topic could be relevant for your students.

Would this align with your students' interests and skill sets? Additionally, could you share more details on the timeline and any constraints—when would the project start, and what are the expected deliverables?

Looking forward to discussing this further! My email is lucie_gallegos@natural-solutions.eu 
Don't hesitate to reach out!

Best, 

Lucie

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Link

Latin American/Caribbean Conservation Research Grant

Ahmed Junaid

31 January 2025 3:52pm

American Ornithological Society (AOS)

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discussion

One Health Researchers anyone?

Grace Maina

18 January 2025 9:05pm

 Hello, everyone. I am a veterinarian working in Kenya with little experience in wildlife fieldwork. My recent and ongoing MSc in One Health has sparked a renewed interest in...

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Dr Jackie Lighten

24 January 2025 6:46pm

Hi Grace,

One Health is keen interest of mine. While the WHO incarnation of it many years ago focused on reducing antimicrobial resistance, I much prefer to take the more evolved view of more complex interactions between humans, wildlife, and our shared environments.

Quite a few institures in the UK have One Health Labs.

With focus on Africa, Adrian runs a lab at Edinburgh, and Roslin Instiute still do a bunch   DOH - Home
He has published lots. Drop him a line  ‪Adrian Muwonge‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

Also, check out (7) Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka | LinkedIn
She pioneered one health in Uganda to  save gorilla populations, and succeeded! Her NGO is called Conservation through Public Health.

 Similar to the issue that was facing gorillas in Uganda, chimps have for years been catching respiratory infections from humans, one source may be shared water sources. A study recently showed that by improving health of local children, chimps can be safeguarded from human to chimp crossover. I haven't seen a renewal of Uganda's One Health Policy which ended in 2023, but I do hope they are carrying on.

Uganda is particularly interesting from a one health perspective and a hotspot for zoonosis potential.

Lots going on in the space :)
 

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discussion

Thesis Collaboration

Simon

4 January 2025 5:15pm

Hello everyone, I am an experienced Data Scientist and I am currently studying a second master in Environment Management (ULB - Belgium). I am currently looking for a master...

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Sanne Govaert

7 January 2025 12:32pm

Hi Simon,
Did you already contact INBO? Both biologging and citizen science are big themes at INBO. Last year we had a master thesis on camera trapping invasive muntjac. You can send me a private message for more info!

Ivan Herrera Olivares

14 January 2025 3:30pm

Hi Simon,

We're a biologging start-up based in Antwerp and are definitely open to collaborate if you're interested. We've got some programs going on with local zoo's. Feel free to send me a DM if you'd like to know more.

enrico sorato

15 January 2025 8:30am

Hi Simon,
We (Reneco International Wildlife Consultants) have an ongoing collaboration with a local University (Abu Dhabi, UAE)  for developing AI tools (cameratrap/drone images and video analyses) and biomimetic robots applied to conservation (e.g  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954124004813 ). We also have a genetic team working on eDNA.    Field experience could be possible, in UAE or Morocco.
Feel free to write me back if you may be interested and would like to know more
 

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discussion

Canopy access or tree climbing resources for arboreal research

Anne Dangerfield

12 September 2024 8:51pm

Hi everyone.I am a professional tree climbing/canopy access trainer and work in conservation tech. I've climbed or trained climbers in several countries to deploy arboreal...

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John Simeone

4 October 2024 10:04pm

Hi all! Folks may be interested in the Cornell Tree Climbing program that is a part of Cornell Outdoor Education. Not only does Cornell offer training, and have a bunch of online resources, but they have also facilitated groups of scientists to collect canopy samples and data. 

Anne Dangerfield

9 January 2025 10:50pm

Hi Dominique,

Thanks for your responses and congratulations on getting trained! 

I can see that speaking directly with a climbing professional could be the most beneficial because what climbing methods and equipment you may need will depend very much on individual project goals and budgets. Did you end up speaking with your trainers about your field research goals and what climbing methods may be best for you? 

Anne Dangerfield

9 January 2025 11:27pm

Hi Mark, thanks for responding. I think you've identified one of the most difficult parts of research climbing: maintaining your climbing skills and knowledge between field sessions. 

My husband is an experienced arborist and practices his skills almost daily. I am not an arborist, so I schedule climbing time to keep my abilities fresh and my husband is there to assist. But I know it's difficult for individual researchers to practice on their own and they should only be climbing alone if experienced and not in a remote area.

However, it's possible to train researchers to safely climb in the field for multiple field sessions. My husband and I trained a group of climbers in Cameroon in January, 2024. The goal was to train four climbers who would go into the remote rainforest for several weeks and set up camera traps. They would deploy and retrieve arboreal cameras at different survey locations over two years. We needed to train the teams to operate safely and independently (without an instructor present) in very remote areas. 

To train them sufficiently, my husband and I spent 1 month in Cameroon with the field team. We did a few days of basic training at a location near the city and then went with them on their initial camera deployment where we continued field training for 2.5 - 3 weeks. Before going to Cameroon, we had several discussions to determine what climbing method and equipment would best meet their data collection goals and were appropriate for their field site and conditions. We taught them basic rescue scenarios. We also set a climbing practice schedule for the team to maintain their climbing and rescue skills. We strongly emphasized to their management that the field team needed access to the climbing gear and needed to follow the practice schedule. Since the training, the team successfully finished two other camera trap surveys and is planning their third.

This was a lot of up-front training and cost. However, these climbers are now operating on their own and can continue operating for the foreseeable future. I think a big reason is receiving extensive training, tailored to their needs. General tree-climbing courses are great for learning the basics, but they'll never be a substitute for in-field, tailored training.

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