Nadia Sheikh
What employment sector do you work in?
Private Sector
How long have you had a green job for nature?
2.5 years
Please describe the work that you do.
I work as a biodiversity consultant, helping businesses and financial institutions understand and manage biodiversity risks associated with development projects around the world. My work involves analysing ecological data, coordinating specialist inputs, and preparing reports that support sustainable decision-making and alignment with international environmental standards.
What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes?
I enjoy the variety of the work. I have worked on site-based projects spanning renewable energy, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, finance, pharmaceuticals and other sectors dotted across the world. No two projects are the same, and I enjoy learning about the biodiversity challenges and opportunities in different regions. I also like the mix of skills involved in my role, from GIS and data analysis to coding, mapping, client presentations and report writing. The main challenges are the tight deadlines, workload pressures and utilisation targets that are common in consultancy.
What inspired you into this career?
To be honest, I did not set out specifically to do this job. I graduated into a terrible job market, particularly for internationals, and was applying for anything related to ecology, biodiversity or the environment. Why I initially applied was because the role had “biodiversity” in the title. At the time, I was much more focused on and had been interviewing for traditional ecological consultancy roles and did not really know what biodiversity consultancy involved.
I went into the interview with fairly low expectations, but came out stoked. The work sounded super interesting and a perfect mix of the quantitative analysis and data skills I had developed during my Master’s degree, combined with the ecological theory foundations from my undergraduate studies. It felt like an ideal fit, and I was genuinely excited when offered the job.
Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far?
The job market has steadily declined since I graduated, and we’ve had a few rounds of redundancies over the years. Now with AI, a lot of people in data analysis roles are understandably wondering what the future of their jobs will look like. It can be mentally tough knowing that when work gets stressful, you can’t always just walk away because there isn’t necessarily something else waiting for you on the other side. These are pretty bleak times for my generation in many ways.
My main advice would be not to put all of your self-worth into your job title, salary, or career progression. They can be taken away, at no fault of your own. Celebrate the little wins as well. Experience only comes from sticking things out, and once you get those first couple of years of experience, things get easier.
What education/training did you have?
BSc Ecology, Conservation, and Environment.
MSc Quantitative methods for Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology.
What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession?
Choose a track and get really good at it. I went the quantitative route because of Covid, but nowadays employers are prioritising those with field and industry experience. And if you want to work in international biodiversity, you’re going to need to get some international biodiversity field experience.
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Tags: England, Private sector, Environmental adviser, Data and mapping roles, Project manager, Sustainability adviser
Date profile submitted: 03/07/2026
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