Ashley Buchan
What employment sector do you work in?
NGO Sector
How long have you had a green job for nature?
3 years
Please describe the work that you do.
I work in the policy team at CIEEM, the professional body for ecologists and environmental managers. I help turn members’ expertise into evidence for government consultations, position papers and briefings, helping shape environmental legislation and policy across the UK and Ireland. I collaborate with policy volunteers, other environmental bodies and decision-makers, ensuring practical, on-the-ground ecological knowledge informs the laws and guidance that protect nature.
What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes?
I enjoy thinking about how to make it easy as possible for our volunteers to share their knowledge and experience and then thinking about how I can shape this into the evidence we need for the particular audience we want to engage. CIEEM is unusual for how central volunteers are to shaping our policy content and activities, and this is its great strength.
I don’t like how short consultation periods can be – it makes it difficult to engage with the democratic process properly and means we can’t always engage as we’d like.
What inspired you into this career?
During my Geography undergraduate degree we had a short course on research for policy and I felt really enthused about how evidence can influence how things are done day-to-day. Later, I did some training in public engagement and realised that evidence isn’t limited to physical science, but also includes people’s knowledge and experience. Since then, I felt strongly that I wanted to go into environmental policy.
Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far?
The paths into policy are many and varied, which is great in several ways, but this can also make it difficult to chart your own route into the sector. I gradually pieced together experience and examples demonstrating my interest in policy, and was finally given a chance at a full-time job in policy by CIEEM.
What education/training did you have?
At school I considered ecology, social work and English before choosing a BSc in Geography which combined elements of these other disciplines and gave me my first experience of policy coursework. I went on to a PhD researching beetles and peatland restoration, though I should stress that a PhD is not essential for working in policy. Two paid policy internships (three and six months) gave me hands-on experience, and I joined CIEEM in November 2023 for my first policy role.
What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession?
Policy internships are a great way to get a taste of what jobs in that sector might be like and there are frequently paid opportunities offered by universities and colleges, but also Third Sector / NGOs, so keep an eye out for these as they demonstrate interest and experience.
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Tags: Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, NGO sector, Policy and law roles, Researcher
Date profile submitted: 27/07/2026
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