Rooting for a Career

This leaflet is intended to provide an introduction to the environment sector and is not a comprehensive guide. For each section you will find more information on the careers webpages of the British Ecological Society and Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management.

in Ecology orEnvironmental Management?

Science and Research

The Government and Statutory Sector

Business and Industry

Ecological Consultancy

The Media and Public Relations

Science Education

Using this leaflet -

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

The British Ecological Society (BES)

The vision of the British Ecological Society is to advance ecology and make it count.

The BES’s many activities include the publication of a range of scientific literature, including five internationally renowned journals, the organisation and sponsorship of a wide variety of meetings, the funding of numerous grant schemes, education work and policy work. The Society was established in 1913 and has approximately 4,000 members worldwide, and membership is open to all with an interest in ecology.

The Society is funded through income from subscriptions, publications and its investment portfolio. It is an independent organisation that receives little outside funding.

The BES is located at:British Ecological Society, Charles Darwin House, 12 Roger Street, London, WC1N 2JU.

www.BritishEcologicalSociety.Org

Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management

IEEM is the professional body that represents and supports ecologists and environmental managers in the UK, Ireland and abroad. Established in 1991, we have over 4,500 members drawn from local authorities, government

agencies, industry, environmental consultancy, teaching, research, and NGOs. We exist to promote and support the practice of ecology and environmental management for the benefit of people and biodiversity.

IEEM do this by:

- Promoting the sharing of best practice within the profession.

- Supporting Continuing Professional Development through training and conferences.

- Encouraging networking and information sharing across all sectors.

- Maintaining professional standards through our Code of Professional Conduct.

- Influencing national and international environmental policy.

- Providing professional support and guidance to our members.

www.ieem.net

Image credits: Setting net to catch mountain hare - Adam Seward; Undergraduate students check bucket - David Bird; Underwater surveying of habitat-forming animals - Emma Birdsey; Moi Avenue Primary School - Scolastica Ndegwa; Checking a fyke net - Jennifer Davis; Leaf - Shutterstock

The G

overnm

ent

and

Statu

tory S

ector

Man

y de

part

men

ts a

nd a

genc

ies

of c

entr

al

and

loca

l Gov

ernm

ent h

ave

resp

onsi

bilit

ies

to

prom

ote

or h

ave

rega

rd to

the

cons

erva

tion

of w

ildlif

e, h

abita

ts a

nd la

ndsc

ape

qual

ity.

Empl

oym

ent o

ppor

tuni

ties

in th

is s

ecto

r ar

e a

dire

ct re

sult

of U

K a

nd E

urop

ean

Uni

on p

olic

ies.

Empl

oyer

s: N

atur

al E

ngla

nd, N

atur

al R

esou

rces

W

ales

, Sco

ttis

h N

atur

al H

erit

age,

Env

iron

men

t A

genc

y, g

over

nmen

t dep

artm

ents

suc

h as

Def

ra,

Loca

l Pla

nnin

g A

utho

riti

es a

nd N

atio

nal P

ark

Aut

hori

ties

.

Scien

ce an

d Re

search

Ecol

ogic

al re

sear

ch c

over

s a

broa

d ra

nge

of to

pics

and

is c

arri

ed o

ut b

y ac

adem

ic

inst

itutio

ns a

nd re

sear

ch c

entr

es fu

nded

by

orga

nisa

tions

suc

h as

the

Rese

arch

Cou

ncils

. Re

sear

ch w

ill o

ften

invo

lve

a si

gnifi

cant

am

ount

of t

ime

carr

ying

out

pra

ctic

al a

nd

field

wor

k.

Empl

oyer

s: U

nive

rsit

ies,

Res

earc

h Co

unci

ls

(suc

h as

the

Nat

ural

Env

iron

men

t Re

sear

ch C

ounc

il), g

over

nmen

t de

part

men

ts a

nd

indu

stri

al c

lient

s.

Non-

Gover

nmen

tal

Orga

nisati

ons (N

GOs)

NG

Os

are

usua

lly c

hari

tabl

e or

gani

satio

ns c

arry

ing

out p

ract

ical

co

nser

vatio

n, re

sear

ch, r

ecor

ding

and

m

onito

ring

act

iviti

es a

nd c

ampa

igni

ng.

Com

petit

ion

for

sala

ried

em

ploy

men

t is

inte

nse;

man

y ro

les

are

carr

ied

out b

y vo

lunt

eers

and

wor

k ca

n be

sea

sona

l.

Empl

oyer

s: R

SPB,

the

Wild

life

Trus

ts, t

he

Nat

iona

l Tru

st, G

reen

peac

e, G

roun

dwor

k Tr

usts

, Nat

iona

l Bio

dive

rsit

y N

etw

ork

(NBN

).

Ecolo

gical

Consu

ltancy

Con

sulta

ncie

s un

dert

ake

rese

arch

on

beha

lf of

thei

r cl

ient

s, re

port

ing

on fi

eld

surv

eys

and

advi

sing

on

ecol

ogic

al m

atte

rs re

late

d to

env

ironm

enta

l im

pact

ass

essm

ents

(E

IAs)

and

miti

gatio

n an

d tr

ansl

ocat

ion.

Empl

oyer

s: C

onsu

ltan

ts c

an b

e se

lf-em

ploy

ed

and

ofte

n de

velo

p hi

ghly

spe

cial

ist s

kills

in

a fe

w c

riti

cal a

reas

or t

hey

can

be e

mpl

oyed

by

con

sult

anci

es o

f var

ying

siz

es. T

hey

may

al

so c

ombi

ne th

is ro

le w

ith

a m

ore

form

al

empl

oym

ent s

uch

as fo

r the

Wild

life

Trus

ts,

rese

arch

inst

itut

es o

r uni

vers

itie

s.

The M

edia

and

Publi

c Rela

tions

Ecol

ogis

ts c

an b

e em

ploy

ed in

film

mak

ing,

au

thor

ing

book

s an

d as

env

ironm

ent

corr

espo

nden

ts fo

r ne

wsp

aper

s an

d T

V. P

ublic

re

latio

ns fo

cus

mor

e on

mai

ntai

ning

an

effe

ctiv

e pu

blic

imag

e fo

r or

gani

satio

ns th

at d

epen

d on

the

good

will

of t

he p

ublic

. In

each

of t

hese

role

s th

ere

is s

tron

g em

phas

is o

n ex

celle

nt c

omm

unic

atio

n.

Empl

oyer

s: U

nive

rsit

ies,

rese

arch

cou

ncils

(su

ch a

s th

e N

atur

al E

nvir

onm

ent R

esea

rch

Coun

cil -

NER

C),

go

vern

men

t dep

artm

ents

and

indu

stri

al c

lient

s.

Busin

ess an

d In

dustr

yA

ll in

dust

ries

impa

ct o

n th

e na

tura

l en

viro

nmen

t in

som

e w

ay. E

nviro

nmen

tal

actio

n (a

nd e

mpl

oym

ent o

ppor

tuni

ties)

, ar

e dr

iven

by

legi

slat

ion

on p

ollu

tion

and

the

requ

irem

ent f

or e

nviro

nmen

tal i

mpa

ct

asse

ssm

ents

(EI

As)

to b

e ca

rrie

d ou

t in

the

plan

ning

sta

ges

of d

evel

opm

ent.

Empl

oyer

s: In

dust

ries

invo

lved

in m

iner

al e

xtra

ctio

n,

grow

ing

and

proc

essi

ng fo

od, p

rodu

ctio

n an

d su

pply

of

ene

rgy,

pes

t con

trol

, civ

il en

gine

erin

g.

Sett

ing

net t

o ca

tch

mou

ntai

n ha

re in

Sco

tland

.

Scien

ce Ed

ucati

onEd

ucat

ion

can

incl

ude

form

al c

lass

room

teac

hing

, te

achi

ng in

fiel

d st

udy

cent

res

and

educ

atio

n ro

les

with

NG

O’s

and

oth

er o

rgan

isat

ions

. All

incl

ude

gene

ratin

g re

sour

ces,

act

iviti

es a

nd id

eas

that

hel

p pe

ople

of a

ll ag

es to

und

erst

and

ecol

ogy

and

its

rele

vanc

e in

thei

r liv

es.

Empl

oyer

s: S

choo

ls, fi

eld

stud

y ce

ntre

s, le

arne

d so

ciet

ies.

Che

ckin

g a

fyke

net

as

part

of a

n in

vest

igat

ion

into

the

biod

iver

sity

val

ues

of u

rban

wet

land

s in

M

elbo

urne

, Aus

tral

ia.

Moi

Ave

nue

Prim

ary

Scho

ol o

n a

field

exe

rcis

e in

Waj

ee N

atur

e C

amp

colle

ctin

g in

sect

s by

us

e of

sw

eep

nets

and

late

r on

stud

ying

and

di

scus

sing

them

.

Und

ergr

adua

te s

tude

nts

chec

k bu

cket

- s

ized

pitf

all t

raps

for a

mph

ibia

ns a

nd

rept

iles

on a

n ex

pedi

tion

to H

ondu

ras.

Und

erw

ater

sur

veyi

ng o

f hab

itat-

form

ing

anim

als

on a

rtifi

cial

hab

itats

.