← Back to Public Sector

Poul Morten Korndal

Peatland Worksite Supervisor
What employment sector do you work in?

Public Sector

How long have you had a green job for nature?

20+ Years

Salary Range – Full Time Equivalent

£30,001 – £40,000

Please describe the work that you do.

The basic day-to-day operational delivery of peatland restoration sites working with the peatland restoration forester.
Duties include pre-assessment and survey of proposed restoration sites, production of GIS and mapping to inform site operation, delivery, contractor supervision and management, monitoring and logging, observing adherence to HSE and operational constraints. Ecological monitoring and surveying and post restoration monitoring.

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

The variety. I work within a broad sweep of experiences and disciplines that straddle many of the other dedicated functions and can work with ecology, GIS, drone surveying and operational plant supervision.
For the same reason I also get to work with many other teams and partners that likewise allow for variety.

What inspired you into this career? 

Childhood facination with the natural world and doses of David Attenborough, Old National Geographic and a love of adventure and expedition books.

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

Straddling a lot of disciplines it can be hard to break into some fields that have quite closed groups who focus heavily on the correct degree and professional membership over experience and knowledge.
It can be more challenging to convince a recruiter who is only looking for e.g. BSc suffixed to your name.
Networking and reputation will compensate for this especially with operational delivery.

What education/training did you have?

I have focussed mainly on vocational training with part-time further study around employment.
I hold a broad sweep of NPTC/Lantra certifications as well as numerous safety cards (CSCS, SSSTS etc).
I am then slowly, in my own time, working my way though CPD courses and HNCs and HNDs.

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

You do not need a degree. Experience and Skill is valued operationally though just having a certification is not enough -make sure you are competent as well as certified – keep practising those skills.
More mundane certifications are the ones that will get you an entry level job – a skilled. brushcutter is better than an average chainsaw.
A seasonal job is worth far more than years of volunteering.
Putting up with ‘not the dream job’ will get you the experience to get there eventually.

—

Tags: Scotland, Public sector, Conservation worker, Data and mapping roles, Ecologist, Forestry and arboriculture roles, Peatland

Date profile submitted: 07/10/2025

Related Job Profiles

Browse All Job Profiles