From Subbie to Senior - an ecologist's journey

?My name is Amy Williams Schwartz , and I’m a Senior Ecologist at Wildwood Ecology | Certified B Corporation? , based in Caerphilly. I have been working full-time for the company since spring of 2020, where I joined as a Consultant Ecologist, but that wasn’t my first time working with Wildwood! Everyone’s journey into the sector is different, but this was mine…

I always knew I wanted to work with animals, and developed a particular passion for British wildlife in my late teens. The first set of reptile surveys I undertook was, aged 16, at my local nature reserve, simply because I was curious about what was there! I borrowed some refugia from my local Amphibian and Reptile Group and sought permission from the local council to undertake the survey. This afforded my when I saw my first (of many!) Slow Worms and was hooked on reptiles from then on.

I undertook a BSc degree in Zoology at 英国威尔士斯旺西大学 from 2012-2015. During this time, I met many like-minded people who shared my interests, and became involved in a couple of the local bat groups. In 2013, I began doing volunteer bat roost visits, counting maternity roosts of a variety of bat species including Lesser Horseshoe and Serotine, and bought my first bat detector of my own (a Magenta 5 – a rather outdated bit of kit now but to me at the time, a magical gateway into the world of these amazing nocturnal animals). In my final year of my undergraduate degree (in 2015) I got a part-time contract with a consultancy in South Wales where I had my first experience performing professional bat surveys.

?In the 2016 season, whilst undertaking a self-funded Masters degree at 英国卡地夫大学 , I took the decision to register as a sole trader and sent my CV to a few local ecological consultancies, including Wildwood Ecology | Certified B Corporation? , as they were based locally and had a very good reputation. After discussing my experience and availability with the team, I was registered as a subcontractor and spent a lot of my time, when not working on my Masters that year, in the field working for Wildwood, undertaking a large-scale reptile translocation locally to me in Cardiff, and a number of bat emergence/re-entry surveys.

I continued to work for Wildwood Ecology | Certified B Corporation? throughout 2017 and 2018, whilst undertaking a PhD in wildlife/road conflicts at 英国卡地夫大学 , undertaking primarily evening work (bat emergence surveys and great crested newt presence/absence surveys) as this fit in well with my studies. Thanks to the experience I’d gained, 2018 saw me gain my Great Crested Newt licence from Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru / Natural Resources Wales .

Unfortunately, I was too busy with thesis writing during 2019 to undertake any consultancy work, but at the end of the year I became aware that Wildwood were advertising for a permanent, full-time Consultant Ecologist in Wales, to start around the time my PhD ended in early 2020. It was almost too good to be true! Out of all the consultancies I had spent time working with between 2015 and 2019, Wildwood was by far my favourite. The mixture of a very friendly team willing to share knowledge, plus an obvious passion for wildlife and strong values, aligning with my own personal ethics ,meant that this was a company I was very keen to join full-time.

Following my in-person interview, I was informed that same day that I was to be offered the job, and was thrilled! I have now been working for Wildwood Ecology | Certified B Corporation? since March 2020, and was promoted to Senior Ecologist in November 2022. I love my role and the opportunity to help develop new members of staff in the same way that others supported me when I began as a subcontractor with the company all the way back in 2016!

I would whole-heartedly recommend to others looking to get into the sector to spend some time subcontracting with a few different companies. Finding a company with a vision and values that aligns with my own personal beliefs has been hugely important. I am very happy with my choice of workplace, enabling me to produce work of which I am proud.

If you're interested in working as a Seasonal Assistant Consultant Ecologist, Wildwood are hiring now and more information can be found here https://shorturl.at/fiqxU .