I'm a conservation biologist, and I am just about to finish my degree in Animal and Conservation Biology. I have been volunteering for 4 and a half years with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, where I learned so much - including delivering environmental education workshops and organising and running campaigns and events. In the summer, I work as a field ecologist doing bat surveys for a fab company, but I am also currently looking for full-time graduate positions. I also enjoy hiking, traveling and learning Spanish :)
My favourite wildlife encounter has been on my recent trip to Kenya, after searching for leopards for days, I finally managed to track one after the heavy rains meant there were some really clear tracks left in the mud! It was such a triumphant moment to find him resting in a tree, and a made for a great photo too.
I'm really looking forward to connecting with you all and learning from shared experiences.
If you'd like to connect, I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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You are amazing! It is a very beautiful picture and we want to know more about your trip. I think it will be more interesting if you collaborate with @Muthoni Njuguna our wildhub core community member and curious environmentalist from Kenya, we want to know your conservation journey and why you were interested in visiting Kenya
Hi Ussi, thanks for your comments. This time around I was visiting Kenya on holiday, purely out of interest and to be surrounded by wildlife again and in such a beautiful country. I would love to come back for fieldwork one day maybe haha. I grew up in South Africa so I have always been surrounded by fantastic nature. Now I am finishing my degree in the UK.
Welcome to WildHub, Charlie!
Thank you Lara!
Welcome to WildHub, Charlie, and thank you for sharing about this amazing wildlife encounter (brilliant photo!). In which part of Kenya was this?
My photo was taken through binos and with my phone, the really lovely photo was taken by my partner haha, but I did my best. This was in the Mara Triangle. Such a fantastic area for wildlife, apart from the leopard, most animals were very easy to find as they are so abundant!
Welcome Charlie. Nice to have you here.
Welcome Charlie, I see you've been volunteering for a while. Could you share with us what volunteering is like; highs and lows?
Hi Grace. Sure, I'd love to. I've always enjoyed practical conservation like tree planting and weed removal. My role with the Scottish Wildlife Trust was more as an ambassador and organiser - I lead advocacy campaigns ahead of events like elections and COP26, and I helped organise workshops and webinars. The highs of the work are seeing the final outcome, when after months of planning the event finally takes place and you can see people enjoying the work we produced as a team. The lows I suppose are in the months of planning when things go wrong and you simply aren't sure things are going to work out in time! Or the fact that a lot of the work I did took place online, so although I collaborated with my colleagues on the team online, it can feel a bit like you are on your own sometimes. All in all though, I enjoyed the work I did with them. Having been in that volunteer role for 4 and a half years though, I've now moved on to another organisation where I will do more practical fieldwork. Thanks for asking!
Thank you Charlie, I appreciate your candid response. Cheers
Hi Charlie, welcome to WildHub! Great photo of the leopard and great feeling to find it too. I work with Andean bears in Bolivia and it is really exciting when we are lucky enough to find them. By the way, it's good to know that you want to learn Spanish, you can practice with me if you want!
Saludos!!