Carolyn responded to our Call for Conservation Catalysts in February this year (2021) and dedicated the subsequent 9 months to interviewing conservationists to share their lessons learned with our community. In this role, she acts as a catalyst in sharing knowledge, experiences, solutions, and ideas to help others in their conservation work and enable better conservation of wildlife, contributing to our community’s overall goal. 

Carolyn reached the status of WildHub’s first Conservation Catalyst after sharing her sixth lessons learned post on November 21st, in which she interviewed wildlife conservationist and award-winning filmmaker, Fiona Tande. During the past year, Carolyn has interviewed a variety of conservationists, on the topics of volunteer recruitment and management, marine conservation networks, building bridges to inclusive conservation, diversity fellowships, and improving the impact of conservation science through communication. Please join me in congratulating Carolyn by adding your felicitations below!

To celebrate, I took the opportunity to ask Carolyn some questions about her journey to becoming a Conservation Catalyst. 

Thirza: “What benefits have you experienced from being on a journey to becoming a Conservation Catalyst with WildHub?”

Carolyn: “I knew I wanted to go on this journey from the moment I saw it advertised. I had started writing again and I wanted to continue to communicate science while improving my storytelling. At first it was very odd having to ask strangers from across the globe if they wanted me to write about their conservation work. Not everyone said yes and I had to learn how to be flexible and keep to my timelines. Another benefit was growing my professional network, I love making connections with people and helping out where I can. Last, I’ll mention that I listed my Conservation Catalyst duties on my resume and discussed this role in job interviews. These actions helped me focus on my next career move.”

Thirza: “What helped you to contribute content on a regular basis and therefore helped you become a WildHub Conservation Catalyst?”

Carolyn: “I felt supported by staff to continue producing content. They did not pressure or overextended my commitment. Having a monthly content contribution goal helped and of course being a volunteer, overall, was pretty low stress. It was kinda sweet and validating to see positive reactions from my readers which pushed me to keep writing.”

Thirza: “Which barriers have you experienced to contributing content to WildHub on a regular basis?”

Carolyn: “I was working part time and looking for more work while I was volunteering for WildHub. During some weeks the monthly timeline was stressful. This stress helped me better manage my time ultimately.”

Thirza: “What advice would you give to other members who would like to become a WildHub Conservation Catalyst?”

Carolyn: “Try becoming a Conservation Catalyst, even if you are just a little bit curious. I found great guidance and support through asking questions to my cohort and peers within the WildHub rooms. It’s a journey worth taking”

Curious who will be joining our WildHub Core Community next? Click on the “Watch” button in Our Community channel and be notified by email when we will celebrate our next member. 

Would you like to congratulate Carolyn and other Core Community members ‘live’ for their valuable contributions to our community? RSVP for our WildHub Core Community Members Celebration on the 9th of December at 4pm GMT and meet our Core Community members in our Gather space!