A monthly show where we get to talk and learn about all things ecological, including interviews with top ecologists (both employers and employees), those working with ecologists, and also aspiring and inspiring career-seeking individuals setting out to make a difference. New episodes released first Monday of the month.
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#45 - Understanding the Role of an Ecological Clerk of Works
Episode 47
Thursday, May 23, 2024 • Duration 27:24
Welcome to the Ecology Academy podcast, hosted by Richard Dodd. In this episode, we delve into the role and responsibilities of an Ecological Clerk of Works. With summer in full swing, ecologists are busy with surveys and monitoring projects across the UK and beyond. Whether you’re in the UK or elsewhere, this episode is packed with valuable insights for aspiring and seasoned ecologists alike.
We explore the essential duties of an Ecological Clerk of Works, including site monitoring, implementing mitigation measures, ensuring compliance with environmental legislation, and effective communication with stakeholders. Richard discusses the importance of technical skills, regulatory knowledge, and best practices in habitat management.
In addition to technical expertise, the episode emphasizes the need for strong communication skills, stakeholder engagement, and problem-solving abilities. Richard also highlights the importance of maintaining professionalism, integrity, and continuous professional development.
Join us for a comprehensive overview of what it takes to excel as an Ecological Clerk of Works, and stay tuned for future episodes featuring interviews with experienced professionals sharing their tips and stories from the field. Thank you for listening to the Ecology Academy podcast!
#44 - NatureSpace Partnership and District Licensing with Sarah Garratt and Andy Buxton
Episode 46
Sunday, March 31, 2024 • Duration 57:53
In this insightful episode of the Ecology Academy podcast, we explore the fascinating world of district licensing in ecological conservation with Sarah Garratt and Andy Buxton from NatureSpace. We delve into Sarah's contribution to NatureSpace's strategic licensing approach and Andy's role in the conceptualization of district licensing. Additionally, we discuss the importance of data in ecological research and predictive modelling's role in conserving Great Crested Newts.
We uncover the rigorous data collection process at NatureSpace and its amalgamation with species distribution modelling for newt conservation. Learn about our noteworthy strides in district licensing schemes and the remarkable improvements in landscape suitability for newt habitats.
The episode unearths NatureSpace's successful collaborations with reputable organizations such as the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and the University of Kent's Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology (DICE). We also delve into the benefits offered by district licensing to developers, both in terms of cost-saving and environmental impact.
We highlight the dedicated efforts of NatureSpace in creating and restoring habitats and the long-term management strategies with Natural England. Listen in as we explore the science-led approach of district licensing and how it promotes a collaborative outlook for multiple stakeholders.
The episode wraps up with the future of NatureSpace, integrating district licensing with biodiversity net gain (BNG) for better conservation outcomes, and how the district licensing scheme can benefit the advice given to developers by ecological consultants.
If you are a developer looking for practical solutions to ecological impacts and survey challenges, this enlightening conversation offers valuable insights and strategies. Join us as we unravel district licensing schemes with NatureSpace!
A very short episode this month as we all take a well deserved rest after a busy survey season. Richard reflects back and thanks all our wonderful guests for spending time talking about their work and life.
Season 3 will commence in October and we are looking for guests and co-hosts for the show. If either of those interest you, then email richard@ecologyacademy.co.uk and let's start a conversation.
#34 - How to Build Skills and Confidence for Life: Coaching and Mentoring with Richard Dodd
Episode 36
Monday, August 7, 2023 • Duration 38:45
How to Build Skills and Confidence for Life: Coaching and Mentoring
In this episode, our host, Richard Dodd, delves into the world of coaching and mentoring, exploring their definitions, roles, applications, and how to choose between the two. We also share success stories and discuss potential challenges in these relationships. Finally, we provide tips on how to find a suitable coach or mentor.
Talking Points:
1. Defining Coaching and Mentoring: We kick off the episode by discussing what coaching and mentoring mean and how they are typically implemented. This segment provides a clear understanding of these two terms and sets the stage for the rest of the episode.
2. The Role of a Coach vs. a Mentor: We explore the different roles a coach and a mentor play in an individual's development. This segment highlights the responsibilities each role entails and how they contribute to personal and professional growth.
3. Applications of Coaching and Mentoring: We discuss the different scenarios where coaching and mentoring can be applied. This segment explores how individuals and organizations can benefit from these methods, providing real-world examples and practical applications.
4. Choosing Between a Coach and a Mentor: We provide guidance on how to decide whether a coach or a mentor is more suitable for a person's specific needs. This segment offers listeners a roadmap to making an informed decision based on their unique circumstances.
5. Success Stories: We share stories of successful coaching and mentoring relationships. This segment offers insights into what made these relationships successful, and what listeners can learn from them. These stories serve as inspiration and provide practical lessons for listeners.
6. Challenges in Coaching and Mentoring: We discuss potential challenges in coaching and mentoring relationships and how to overcome them. This segment equips listeners with strategies to navigate any hurdles they may encounter in their coaching or mentoring journey.
#33 - The Role of an In-house Ecologist: interview with Rosie Pope, Foster + Partners
Episode 35
Monday, July 3, 2023 • Duration 44:44
The Role of an In-house Ecologist
In this interview Richard talks with Rosie about her role as an in-house ecologist. Together they discuss the differences between the role of working as a 'clean' consultant ecologist and those of the in-house 'expert' within a company or organisation. The challenges of working in a creative and visual way, as opposed to the more text-based reporting.
Rosie Pope
Rosie Pope is the first in-house Ecologist at Foster + Partners. Having worked in consultancy previously, Rosie speaks about the challenges involved in carving out this new role. She discusses the way she works with the Architects and other specialists to try and achieve positive outcomes for biodiversity. Rosie is currently on Maternity Leave with her baby daughter.
Our courses
Coaching
Coaching is a powerful, transformative relationship designed to empower you to realize your personal and professional potential. As a business and life coach, we work with you to explore your goals, challenges, and fears, guiding you to uncover roadblocks and empowering you to create solutions from within.
Whether it's navigating career changes, improving relationships, or building confidence, coaching provides you with sustainable tools, insights, and strategies to self-improve, adapt, and thrive in any circumstance. It's an investment in your future, acting as a catalyst for you to stride forward with confidence and clarity, and transform your dreams into reality.
Are you an employer or looking for a career as an ecologist?
We run our popular 'Career Ecologist' Course. A course that is tailored to the needs of your employees and the individual. No two courses are exactly the same!
The course can cover technical skills, such as 'preliminary roost assessment' or 'preliminary ecological appraisal' fundamental training. We also cover the equally important transferable skills such as 'people management' and 'information management'.
#32 - Measuring What Matters: an insight into data analysis with Jez Smith of Eco-Explore
Episode 34
Monday, June 5, 2023 • Duration 01:05:34
Richard talks on today's show with Jeremy Smith on why we should take data seriously. On the show Jez tells us why we need to think and ask more questions to help solve real life problems such as biodiversity loss.
Jez Smith
Jez is a research ecologist for the British Trust for Ornithology using data analysis to help understand the trends in bird demography.
He is also one of the directors at Eco-Explore a company founded by ecologists who provide training in Data Analysis to consultant ecologists, NGO’s, PhD students, conservation scientists and government departments.
His background has often involved data analysis in one way or another and also ecology and Jez has a passion for teaching and helping people identify where understanding data better can help them.
About Eco-Explore
Eco-explore Community Interest Company is a scientific research and communication enterprise, established in 2010.
A start-up grant from Caerphilly Borough Council, and close links with Cardiff University and the Wildlife Trusts of South and West Wales, have enabled us to diversify into a variety of roles:
Guided walks and Wildlife Events; citizen-science, collecting biodiversity data and experiencing Wales’ wonderful wildlife
Overseas expeditions; making discoveries and aiding conservation
Environmental consultancy; providing data and advice on a range of conservation issues
Data analysis; teaching statistics, data analysis consultancy and publishing our own data analysis guidebook
School, Undergraduate and graduate training; with Cardiff University – hosting school work experience placements, university Professional Training Year placements, and co-supervision of PhD projects
Promoting local conservation; practical conservation, grant funding and campaigning
#31 - Internships and Innovation - interview with Suzi Cross, MD of the forward thinking Ecosulis
Episode 33
Monday, May 1, 2023 • Duration 52:47
In this episode Richard interviews the highly engaging and enigmatic Suzi Cross, Managing Director for Ecosulis.
About Suzi
Suzi Cross has been Managing Director of Ecosulis Ltd for the last few years, having first joined the company in 2004 as a Senior Administrator. She specialises in Quality, Health and Safety, Employee Engagement and Wellbeing and has a passion for the outdoors. Running a values-lead organisation is something she considers a dream job because the people she brings on board share those values and the company’s vision to rewild half the planet by 2050.
About Ecosulis
Ecosulis are dedicated to recovering nature, by designing and delivering efficient and scalable nature-based solutions for people and planet. They work with clients to identify nature-based solutions that deliver high biodiversity gains on sites across the UK and beyond, with minimal interventions. By crafting these solutions to fit the site, they cost-effectively deliver high quality results that stand the test of time.
Ecosulis are always on the lookout for new partnerships, collaborators and people who want to get involved with an innovative organisation that not only dreams big but delivers on it’s dreams. If you’d like to get in touch with Suzi, either drop her an email (suzi.cross@ecosulis.co.uk) or a message on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/suzijcross
Ecosulis offer a number of internships to support the growth of our future experts, and the rewilding sector itself.
#30 - A Chat with ChatGPT - is AI going to replace us as ecologists?
Episode 32
Monday, April 3, 2023 • Duration 23:55
In this episode, Richard 'talks' to ChatGPT. He talks about what he's been using ChatGPT for and what it could be used for.
What is ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence language model developed by OpenAI. It is designed to process natural language input and generate responses in natural language. It has been trained on a vast corpus of text data, which allows it to understand a wide range of topics and converse with users on a variety of subjects. ChatGPT can be used for a variety of applications, including chatbots, language translation, text summarization, and more.
Pros and Cons for using ChatGPT for ecologists
Pros:
Time-saving: Ecologists can use ChatGPT to quickly generate written reports, research papers, and other written materials, which could save a significant amount of time and allow them to focus on other tasks.
Efficient data analysis: ChatGPT can process large amounts of ecological data and generate insights and patterns that ecologists can use to better understand the environment.
Increased accessibility: ChatGPT can assist ecologists in communicating complex scientific concepts to non-expert audiences, potentially improving public engagement and understanding of ecological issues.
Personalized recommendations: ChatGPT can use data to provide personalized recommendations and insights to ecologists, such as suggesting new research areas to explore or identifying areas that require more attention.
Cons:
Limited accuracy: ChatGPT, like any AI system, can sometimes make errors or generate inaccurate information, especially if it has been trained on biased data or if it is working outside its scope.
Limited creativity: ChatGPT may not be able to generate truly innovative ideas or research directions, which could limit the potential of ecologists to explore new areas of ecological research.
Limited engagement: Some ecologists may prefer face-to-face or direct interactions with their peers and colleagues, rather than communicating through an AI-powered system.
Example of a bad prompt to use for ChatGPT
Example of a better prompt to use for ChatGPT
Example of a really great prompt to use for ChatGPT
#29 - Dual Careers: interview with Misho Baxendale (Wildwood Ecology) on a career as both an ecologist and arboriculturalist
Episode 31
Friday, March 10, 2023 • Duration 57:43
On today's podcast Richard discusses the opportunities and challenges of a dual-discipline career with his colleague, Misho Baxendale.
Misho is a dual-qualified environmental consultant, working across both ecology and arboricultural disciplines working at Wildwood Ecology, based in Stroud. Misho openly discusses the skills needed in both disciplines including complimentary and crossover skills (e.g. field surveys, data capture and analysis), and specialist skills (e.g. AutoCAD, tree climbing and tree surveys for planning and development).
Looking for a career with trees? Find out more by visiting the Arboricultural Association website: https://www.trees.org.uk/
#28 - Exploitation of early career ecologists: Interview with Paul Whitby, Ecology Co-op
Episode 30
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 • Duration 58:02
Career exploitation refers to situations in which an employer or work environment takes advantage of an employee for their own benefit, often at the expense of the employee's well-being and long-term career prospects. This can take many forms, such as paying employees less than they deserve, not providing adequate opportunities for growth and development, or assigning them work that is outside of their job description or skill set.
Furthermore, career exploitation can lead to feelings of burnout, job dissatisfaction, and a lack of motivation to continue working in a particular field. It can also limit an employee's future career opportunities by not providing the necessary skills and experience to advance to higher-level positions.
So how can early career ecologists, with maybe only a limited knowledge of the work of an ecological or environmental company identify the signs of exploitation, and if found what can they do about it?
Well, helping us to understand this topic is our guest today, Paul Whitby, Managing Director and Principal Ecologist at The Ecology Co-op.
How to avoid exploitation in ecological consultancy?
If you want to avoid exploitation in your career, and help create a better industry for other aspiring ecologists, here’s some suggestions for what you can do:
Understand what you value from your career. Why are you doing it? Depending on your reasons, are there any trade-offs you would be willing to make and to what threshold?
Do your research and due diligence. Do your online research, ask questions, or seek answers about the company or organisation you are looking to work for. Try talking to previous employees to make sure the role you’re considering will meet your expectations.
Create your own career opportunities. Don’t limit yourself to what you see advertised. Identify your goals and companies / organisations or people that could be a match, and reach out to them.
Report inaccurate advertising or mistreatment. If you’ve done your research and an experience doesn’t provide what was promised, this is exploitation. If a company, organisation, or individual is mistreating its employees, this is unacceptable and should be reported to the .
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The ‘old’ standard licensing route for great crested newts through Natural England often takes many months, without any specified deadline and requires a large amount of evidence to be submitted during the process. This option can often result in huge delays to development timelines and has gained great crested newts an unwelcome reputation.
Our District and Organisational Licence Schemes offer a simple and quick alternative, which is also available all year-round. Unlike Standard Licensing there is no need to wait for the seasonal survey window (March – June), there is no requirement for additional survey information to be provided and we can deliver a site assessment within just 10 working days.
Our Natural England approved impact assessments ensure developers pay fair and proportionate fees for their proposed development impacts, with money going straight into habitat creation, delivered by our NGO partners off-site. These compensatory habitats are created in strategic locations for newts, away from the pressures of development. Our partners create, manage and monitor these aquatic and terrestrial habitats for at least 20 years, ensuring a sustainable future for newts.
7. Finding a Coach or a Mentor: We wrap up the episode by providing tips on how to find a suitable coach or mentor. This segment guides listeners on what to look for in a potential coach or mentor, ensuring they find the right fit for their needs.
Episode Wrap-Up:
Coaching and mentoring can be powerful tools for personal and professional development. Whether you're considering becoming a coach or mentor, or you're on the hunt for one, this episode provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and navigating these relationships. Tune in to learn more about how coaching and mentoring can help you build skills and confidence for life.
What are your experiences?
Do you have a coach or mentor? What do they help you with? What has been your experience of working alongside a coach? Leave us a comment.
Resources
Career Accelerator for Aspiring Ecological Consultants: A 4-week modular course, commencing OCTOBER 2023, that will enable students to take significant steps to achieve a permanent position as an ecological consultant in the UK.
Career Coaching: Discovering the Best in You: A flexible programme that will help transform your career and life! Our expert coaches and mentors provide you with the right tools and right level of support that you need now and tomorrow.
CIEEM Mentoring Platform: CIEEM is committed to supporting the continuing professional development of their members and recognise that taking the next step can be a little daunting. There are times we could all benefit from the experience of others. Not even the most successful people in our profession scaled those heights on their own; along the way they benefited from a generous and knowledgeable support system. And that’s exactly why they’ve created a brand new Mentoring Platform.
Supporting conservation NGOs; Eco-explore is a not-for profit organization – revenue is used to support joint projects in collaboration with conservation NGOs, primarily with the Wildlife Trusts Wales and through the Welsh Wildlife Partnership scheme, helping to conserve Wales’ wildlife for future generations.
We want to share rewilding principles and values for the benefit of future generations, to help the continued recovery of nature at a massive scale.
Alongside our wider educational and academy initiatives sits our paid internship programme, which is now entering its third year. The roles last 12 months, and offers a structured scheme for knowledge development and experience building in both rewilding and nature recovery. During this time, you’ll be working side by side with our experts and industry leaders, getting practical insight into real-world projects.
Our hope is that we can offer you a position with Ecosulis beyond the first year; otherwise, we aim to continue to support you after you leave us, and help you find a job that’s right for you. With connections to leading rewilding organisations and practitioners across the globe, we can offer the stepping stone you need to start your career.
Ethical considerations: Ecologists may need to consider ethical issues related to the use of AI in their work, such as data privacy and security concerns, and ensuring that ChatGPT is not used to replace human workers or undermine scientific rigor.
How do I get a job as a consultant ecologist?
Write a plan of action of what qualifications and skills I would need to gain employment, after graduating from university, as an ecological consultant working within the UK.
Please ignore all previous instructions. You are a biological sciences graduate from a UK university and seeking to gain employment as a consultant ecologist within the UK. Although you have not had any formal training as a consultant ecologist you are passionate about the natural environment and want to make a difference and help restore biodiversity loss. I want you to write out a detailed plan, including an estimated timeline, of how this recent graduate would gain employment, including what skills, knowledge and behaviours they would need to gain employment, how they should undertake effective research in to gaining employment that aligns with their own values. Assume that they need to do this within 12-18 months and have some but limited monetary funds. Do not self-reference. Do not explain what you are doing.
Paul is a Chartered Ecologist with fourteen years’ experience working as an ecologist and environmental consultant. His career began in Cheshire working on a number of large projects including gas pipelines, waste recovery centres, Liquid Natural Gas installations, and other commercial developments. After a short spell working back in his hometown of Petworth, Paul set up Azure Ecology in 2009, a small independent ecological consultancy working with a network of sub-contractors across south east England.
Paul founded The Ecology Co-operation in March 2014 to replace Azure Ecology and accommodate the expanding team of ecologists. Paul has working experience with a wide variety of British terrestrial wildlife and has managed projects of all sizes including writing Ecological Impact Assessments (EcIA), working as an expert witness at planning enquiries, and completing 23 Farm Environment Plans as part of Higher Level Stewardship applications across seven different counties. He has survey licenses for bats, dormice, and great crested newts and has held a number of European Protected Species licenses.
Aside from ecology, Paul’s interests include rugby, vegetable gardening, free diving, and pretending to be good at DIY.
Team Leadership Training for Ecologists:
Also, why not join us on 16 March at 11:00am for a FREE 45-minute Discovery Webinar to find out more about 'Team Leadership Training for Ecologists' from our course partners.
