Conservation Creator: Brian Heppenstall

Please join me in congratulating our valued member, Brian Heppenstall, on becoming a Conservation Creator with WildHub! Conservation Creators are our Core Community members who create their own lessons learned and resources based on their work experiences and share these with our members.
Conservation Creator: Brian Heppenstall
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Brian leads and delivers a part-theory, part hand-on course in Wildlife, Ecology and Conservation at Kingston Maurward College, on the South Coast of the UK. He has managed Rangers and Engagement staff and overseen species and habitat management for over 20 years.

Brian joined the WildHub community in November 2020 and shared his first lessons learned post that same month on the topic of Developing the future workforce; case study of a successful placement scheme. He also shared opportunities around this work placement scheme with our community. At the beginning of 2021, Brian, together with WildHub member Mollie Taylor, started the conservation podcast The Hive, with a focus on giving frontline staff some inspiration in how they can tackle common issues. In the months that followed, Brian regularly shared the episodes of their podcast with our community (for an overview of all episodes click here). Last June, Brian published another lessons learned post on the topic of Unpaid Internships within Conservation; impacts and alternatives

The above lessons learned and resources that Brian shared with our community illustrate his passions around people and conservation. Brian: “From writing bids for engagement projects/roles to developing the future workforce, I believe the key to a brighter ecological future lies with people.” He made an exceptional contribution to our community in sharing his own experiences, and by bringing in the experience of others from across the world, through his posts and podcast episodes. Especially with regards to developing the future workforce, Brian’s leadership is an inspiration to us all! 

Read below which advice he shared for other members who would like to become a WildHub Core Community Member.


Thirza: “What benefits have you found from being a WildHub member?”

Brian: “WildHub is a fantastic resource for sharing and accessing relevant and up to date research and opinions from the global conservation community. The information presented is far more accessible than scientific journals and helps to connect frontline conservationists with information that can help to keep their practice up to date.”

Thirza: “What helped you to contribute content on a regular basis and therefore helped you become a WildHub Core Community Member?”

Brian: “Meeting Thirza (online) was the first step, but subsequently being able to easily add posts through the WildHub website, which is both well curated and easy to navigate.”

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

Brian: “For me a career change from practicing conservation to teaching conservation has recently stopped me from finding the time to add any posts, or the inspiration for new content because I have been so busy interpreting a curriculum. But I am starting to think again about what I could contribute from my new perspective.”  

Thirza: “What advice would you give to other members who would like to become a WildHub Core Community Member?”

Brian: “We've all got something to say..... Something you do, or know, will be of interest and use to others. WildHub is a way of getting this information out into the global workforce. Information is the core of good practice and you could be contributing to this.”


Have you benefited from Brian’s lessons learned and resources? Follow him on WildHub (profile here) and add how his contributions have made a difference to you in the comment section below. Please join me in congratulating Brian by adding your message to this post. 

Would you like to congratulate our Core Community members ‘live’ for their valuable contributions to our community? RSVP for our WildHub Core Community Members Celebration on the 12th of January at 4pm GMT and meet our Core Community members in our Gather space

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Go to the profile of Léa Kaplani
over 2 years ago

Congrats Brian!

Go to the profile of Brian Heppenstall
over 2 years ago

Thank you Lea!

Go to the profile of Brian Heppenstall
over 2 years ago

Thank you WildHub! For providing an accessible and inspirational platform for the community to share their experiences and findings, I love logging into the hub first thing in the morning to see what is new. I am proud to be a part of it

Go to the profile of Adam Barlow
over 2 years ago

brilliant - well done Brian and thanks for helping to make the community special!

Go to the profile of Brian Heppenstall
over 2 years ago

Thank you Adam! :-)

Go to the profile of Beth Robinson
over 2 years ago

Amazing achievement, well done Brian. You are clearly very passionate about your work. And I totally agree, everyone has something to say! 

Go to the profile of Brian Heppenstall
over 2 years ago

Thank you Beth - I follow your posts on learning with great interest too!

Go to the profile of Matthew Creasey
over 2 years ago

Congratulations Brian! Awesome posts.

Go to the profile of Brian Heppenstall
over 2 years ago

Cheers Matthew - greatly appreciated!