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Amanda Elliott

Biodiversity Specialist
What employment sector do you work in?

Public Sector

How long have you had a green job for nature?

31 years

Salary Range

£30,001 – £40,000

Please describe the work that you do. 

My organisation has a duty to promote and enhance nature conservation. My role is to make sure that the legal duty is carried out, whether carrying out or own work or regulating others. At the moment I am working on Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRA) for permits associated with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes? 

Like: You can make a real difference and be lucky enough to work in a role that is also linked to your hobby. The organisation is great, very people orientated. As an England-wide organisation, there are opportunities to move around the country and into different role types from reactive on the ground to more strategic roles. 

Dislike: There is more sitting behind a computer than when I first started. 

What inspired you into this career? 

From a young age I always loved being outside.

I was a member of my local Wildlife Trust Watch group and got involved in lots of their activities as well as activities with our local conservation volunteers who were doing work on nature reserves all over my home county.

I was inspired by watching David Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’ when it was first aired in 1979 and by reading Gerald Durrell’s ‘My family and Other Animals’, a set text for my English Literature classes — I read it in one night.

I decided to study Ecology at Lancaster University (one of the few courses at the time) and was then lucky enough to get an environmental job straight after graduating. 

Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far? 

There are a range of career opportunities but if you want to move upward it can become more people management than technical. 

What education/training did you have? 

An Ecology degree, then ongoing development courses: some employer-funded, others self-funded. 

What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession? 

I first entered the profession many years ago when an ecologist was hardly known. The careers advisor told us to become accountants as there were no jobs in Ecology – if it is as competitive now as it was then, take every opportunity to gain experience. 

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