Claire Wiggs
What employment sector do you work in?
Public Sector
How long have you had a green job for nature?
6 years
Salary Range
£40,001 – £50,000
Please describe the work that you do.
Review and assess planning applications for the potential for developments to impact protects species, habitats and sites. Guide the council on environmental policy and collaborate with working groups to agree mitigation strategies, implementation of policy and identify important priorities for the county.
What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes?
Having the authority to prevent harm to the environment and enforce those that do not comply with measures required to prevent harm. Where consultants can recommend mitigation or enhancement only, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) can ensure this is conditioned and enforced. The LPA Ecologist has the opportunity to influence design directly to deliver the best result for nature.
What inspired you into this career?
I have always loved nature and animals as well as science and greats satisfaction in being able identify things. An Ecologist is a combination of both interests and provides some adventure. I love going out to survey and discovering whats at a site, particularly when you find and identify a species. The conservation field would have been my idea job but the roles are funding based so lack stability and are often very difficult to get into.
Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far?
Very low salaries compared to other graduate jobs – my first salary was almost equal to my salary as a sales operative at Primark. I had to undertake an extensive amount of unpaid work to get into the field which meant working unpaid for up to 6 months and quite often losing money to take up the opportunity (i.e. 6 months unpaid internship with the Institute of Zoology, commuting from Norfolk to London everyday) as well as working paid work around this. Lack of knowledge and mentors to get into the field. I am from a working class background so did not have access to any advice and the University also did not offer much advice.
What education/training did you have?
Zoology Bsc. Several internships in relevant or adjacent fields. Majority of training has been on the job.
What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession?
Reach out to consultancies or independent ecologists during the field season to gain experience undertaking Ecological surveys. Consultancies are crying out for survey plus ones during this time. Bat surveys will be outside of University time and are not labour intensive. This is also a great way to get advice and mentoring form someone in the field.
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Tags: England, Public sector, Ecologist, Environmental planner
Date profile submitted: 19/11/2024
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