Georgina Paul
What employment sector do you work in?
NGO Sector
How long have you had a green job for nature?
4 years
Please describe the work that you do.
I am the project officer for the Large Heath Recovery in the Protected Sites Network project. This is a new 2 year project in Wales funded by NNF4, aimed at learning more about the Large Heath distribution in Wales and how this is impacted by peatland restoration efforts. I spend summer in the field conducting flight surveys and habitat condition assessments. I spend the winter undertaking data analysis and project management tasks such as contracting, budget management and evaluation.
What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes?
I love actively doing something that helps butterfly conservation efforts. This project will also provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of peatland restoration methods and how this impacts the Large Heath butterfly which is very exciting. I love how butterfly conservation related field work is usually only done in good weather!
What inspired you into this career?
I was inspired by this incredible organisation and its huge amount of volunteers who are so passionate to support butterflies.
Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far?
It took a very long time to get my first conservation job after university, over 5 years, but I was very committed and never gave up. I’m so glad I did that as I am now in full time conservation work.
What education/training did you have?
I have a FdSc in Zoological Conservation
What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession?
Never give up. Accept that you might spend years having to work jobs outside of your career but if you are committed, volunteer as much as you can for conservation organisations to keep building your experience, complete any additional training courses you come across that can help you, and don’t be afraid to do long term volunteering abroad for a good charity. Long term full time volunteering can give you much more valuable experience that you wouldn’t get from occasional weekend volunteering.
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Tags: Wales, NGO sector, Conservation worker, Ecologist, Peatland
Date profile submitted: 09/12/2025
