What does\u00a0a\u00a0typical day look like\u00a0in your current role?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\nThe centre just launched last year, so right now\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0doing a lot of planning for all the activities for the centre. One thing\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0involved in is\u00a0a practitioner assessment\u00a0\u2013\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a needs assessment, or gap analysis. The idea is to reach out to practitioners who are working in Global South\u00a0<\/span>or<\/span> Indigenous communities at small or medium-sized NGOs, who work directly with communities and find out what their needs and practices are and what support and resources we can supply.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOur\u00a0organisation is based at\u00a0an accredited zoo\u00a0where people can learn about\u00a0conservation and stewarding the natural world. They can see animals up close, such as\u00a0the penguins, which exercise in the morning.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat first interested you<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>in conservation as a career? Did you always know that you wanted to work in this field?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\nNo, I\u00a0don’t\u00a0think so.\u00a0Unlike a lot of\u00a0conservationists who were very outdoorsy\u00a0as children, that\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0my family. Like many immigrant families in Canada, it was always, \u201cIf you’re good at science, you’re good at school, you’ll probably be a doctor, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBut I did like animals. My second-grade teacher had guinea pigs in the classroom. And when I share my story with, especially with children, I say that that’s where my story began – when the teacher brought the guinea pigs in and I just loved them. That\u2019s how I decided to study zoology at university and make it more of a professional pursuit. I love bird watching now, and I’m really into gardening and nature. I\u2019ve had 20 guinea pigs and I still really love them. A conservation career is a great blend of challenge and caring for the world.<\/span><\/p>\nHow did you come to this role?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\nI\u00a0had\u00a0a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Psychology,\u00a0and a\u00a0Master\u2019s in\u00a0Education\u00a0before coming to DICE for my second\u00a0Master\u2019s (Master\u2019s in Conservation Biology<\/span>)<\/span>.\u00a0By that point, I had worked in conservation education for quite a long time, including\u00a0more than a decade at the Wildlife Conservation Society\u00a0(WCS).\u00a0There,\u00a0I worked with communities in different countries, with different\u00a0partners, helping them create their education programmes and resources.\u00a0Other things\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0done include working\u00a0in a learning lab with chickadees, with sea turtles in Costa Rica,\u00a0and\u00a0with whooping cranes at the zoo I work at now.<\/span><\/p>\nI love learning, so\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0had my eye on DICE for quite a while before I joined\u00a0the MSc Conservation Biology programme in\u00a0September 2023.<\/span> For my current\u00a0position, they were looking for someone who had\u00a0a background in\u00a0both the natural sciences\u00a0and the social sciences.\u00a0DICE was\u00a0very helpful\u00a0for that.\u00a0As students\u00a0we\u00a0learned\u00a0natural and social research techniques and how\u00a0to use R.\u00a0With my\u00a0background in social science\u00a0research,\u00a0conservation strategy,\u00a0education, and working with communities internationally,\u00a0it all really came together as a good background\u00a0for this position.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/files\/2026\/02\/Penguin-Walk-at-the-Wilder-Institute-Calgary-Zoo.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
What were your highlights from DICE?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\nDefinitely the people, the professors were very kind and knowledgeable and the network of students, from undergraduate to PhD, was also great. I\u2019m still in touch with my cohort. There was such a variety of nationalities, professions and interests, and we really gelled well.<\/span><\/p>\nThe modules were a highlight too. I especially enjoyed going to Jersey \u2013 seeing the work there on <\/span>red<\/span>–<\/span>billed<\/span>\u00a0chough reintroduction was\u00a0really lovely. The dissertation process was very well supported, from choosing a topic to developing the study, there\u2019s excellent support in the programme. I went to Peru for my dissertation <\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>Fund Amazonia<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and I\u2019m always talking to current DICE students about what it was like, what to expect if they go there for their research. An alumnus who had gone to Peru the year before talked to me about it and that was really helpful, so I want to pay it forward.<\/span><\/p>\nI\u00a0was\u00a0in\u00a0the field\u00a0studying shorebirds and fish, conducting surveys and community interviews. I speak Spanish so I went into people\u2019s homes and sat down with them and talked to them about their fishing practises. Again, it was a nice blend of social science and natural science.\u00a0And coincidentally,\u00a0what\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0doing now is looking at sustainable use and livelihoods, and that is directly connected to the work I did for my dissertation. One of the questions I was asked at interview for this role was about the experience I had with this area, so my dissertation work was\u00a0really helpful\u00a0for getting this role.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat drew you to DICE?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\nDICE has a fantastic reputation. A lot of people that I had read about or met at conferences had studied at DICE, as well as some of the leaders I met at WCS. One of my mentors from WCS who I am very inspired by had studied at DICE. Also, for international students, or people who are already quite entrenched in their careers, being able to do a one-year Master\u2019s is a real advantage \u2013 to be able to finish all the coursework and a dissertation all in one year.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat was it like being an international student?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\nI enjoyed the adventure of being an international student. I knew I had this limited time, this one year to really soak up everything. And England is close to other places, so on my days off I\u2019d go travelling around \u2013 I went to Paris by myself.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Half my cohort were international, and half were British, so the community is great. The University of Kent was very welcoming \u2013 I was\u00a0very impressed\u00a0with the resources that Kent has, and it was easy to find a place off campus to live.<\/span><\/p>\nDo you have any advice for students who either are on the programme or might be thinking about joining it?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\nJust soak it all up. Any opportunity you get to learn, go for it. Learning the social and human side of conservation is super important. I know a lot of people come from a very traditional science, biology, or zoology background, which is great, but I encourage students to embrace the opportunities to learn about social science tools and the context of their projects. It’s very likely that as conservation professionals they’ll be dealing with people in their various roles.<\/span><\/p>\nFor people considering the programme, go for it! There\u2019s a wide diversity of students \u2013 career switchers and people from a variety of backgrounds passionate about conservation. Conservation has room for everyone! As my grandfather said, \u201cWhile you\u2019re in university, enjoy being in university\u201d. I\u2019d encourage students to take advantage of the DICE network, societies like the Women in Conversation Canterbury Network, and the opportunities to get involved with the BioBlitz, community garden and additional field work.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What are Centres for Species Survival? Centres for Species Survival (CSSs), are partnerships between the IUCN SSC (Species Survival Commission) and leading species conservation organisations.\u00a0The … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83585,"featured_media":855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[807],"tags":[6599],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83585"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Our\u00a0organisation is based at\u00a0an accredited zoo\u00a0where people can learn about\u00a0conservation and stewarding the natural world. They can see animals up close, such as\u00a0the penguins, which exercise in the morning.<\/span><\/p>\n No, I\u00a0don’t\u00a0think so.\u00a0Unlike a lot of\u00a0conservationists who were very outdoorsy\u00a0as children, that\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0my family. Like many immigrant families in Canada, it was always, \u201cIf you’re good at science, you’re good at school, you’ll probably be a doctor, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But I did like animals. My second-grade teacher had guinea pigs in the classroom. And when I share my story with, especially with children, I say that that’s where my story began – when the teacher brought the guinea pigs in and I just loved them. That\u2019s how I decided to study zoology at university and make it more of a professional pursuit. I love bird watching now, and I’m really into gardening and nature. I\u2019ve had 20 guinea pigs and I still really love them. A conservation career is a great blend of challenge and caring for the world.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u00a0had\u00a0a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Psychology,\u00a0and a\u00a0Master\u2019s in\u00a0Education\u00a0before coming to DICE for my second\u00a0Master\u2019s (Master\u2019s in Conservation Biology<\/span>)<\/span>.\u00a0By that point, I had worked in conservation education for quite a long time, including\u00a0more than a decade at the Wildlife Conservation Society\u00a0(WCS).\u00a0There,\u00a0I worked with communities in different countries, with different\u00a0partners, helping them create their education programmes and resources.\u00a0Other things\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0done include working\u00a0in a learning lab with chickadees, with sea turtles in Costa Rica,\u00a0and\u00a0with whooping cranes at the zoo I work at now.<\/span><\/p>\n I love learning, so\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0had my eye on DICE for quite a while before I joined\u00a0the MSc Conservation Biology programme in\u00a0September 2023.<\/span> For my current\u00a0position, they were looking for someone who had\u00a0a background in\u00a0both the natural sciences\u00a0and the social sciences.\u00a0DICE was\u00a0very helpful\u00a0for that.\u00a0As students\u00a0we\u00a0learned\u00a0natural and social research techniques and how\u00a0to use R.\u00a0With my\u00a0background in social science\u00a0research,\u00a0conservation strategy,\u00a0education, and working with communities internationally,\u00a0it all really came together as a good background\u00a0for this position.<\/span><\/p>\n Definitely the people, the professors were very kind and knowledgeable and the network of students, from undergraduate to PhD, was also great. I\u2019m still in touch with my cohort. There was such a variety of nationalities, professions and interests, and we really gelled well.<\/span><\/p>\n The modules were a highlight too. I especially enjoyed going to Jersey \u2013 seeing the work there on <\/span>red<\/span>–<\/span>billed<\/span>\u00a0chough reintroduction was\u00a0really lovely. The dissertation process was very well supported, from choosing a topic to developing the study, there\u2019s excellent support in the programme. I went to Peru for my dissertation <\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>Fund Amazonia<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and I\u2019m always talking to current DICE students about what it was like, what to expect if they go there for their research. An alumnus who had gone to Peru the year before talked to me about it and that was really helpful, so I want to pay it forward.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u00a0was\u00a0in\u00a0the field\u00a0studying shorebirds and fish, conducting surveys and community interviews. I speak Spanish so I went into people\u2019s homes and sat down with them and talked to them about their fishing practises. Again, it was a nice blend of social science and natural science.\u00a0And coincidentally,\u00a0what\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0doing now is looking at sustainable use and livelihoods, and that is directly connected to the work I did for my dissertation. One of the questions I was asked at interview for this role was about the experience I had with this area, so my dissertation work was\u00a0really helpful\u00a0for getting this role.<\/span><\/p>\n DICE has a fantastic reputation. A lot of people that I had read about or met at conferences had studied at DICE, as well as some of the leaders I met at WCS. One of my mentors from WCS who I am very inspired by had studied at DICE. Also, for international students, or people who are already quite entrenched in their careers, being able to do a one-year Master\u2019s is a real advantage \u2013 to be able to finish all the coursework and a dissertation all in one year.<\/span><\/p>\n I enjoyed the adventure of being an international student. I knew I had this limited time, this one year to really soak up everything. And England is close to other places, so on my days off I\u2019d go travelling around \u2013 I went to Paris by myself.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Half my cohort were international, and half were British, so the community is great. The University of Kent was very welcoming \u2013 I was\u00a0very impressed\u00a0with the resources that Kent has, and it was easy to find a place off campus to live.<\/span><\/p>\n Just soak it all up. Any opportunity you get to learn, go for it. Learning the social and human side of conservation is super important. I know a lot of people come from a very traditional science, biology, or zoology background, which is great, but I encourage students to embrace the opportunities to learn about social science tools and the context of their projects. It’s very likely that as conservation professionals they’ll be dealing with people in their various roles.<\/span><\/p>\n For people considering the programme, go for it! There\u2019s a wide diversity of students \u2013 career switchers and people from a variety of backgrounds passionate about conservation. Conservation has room for everyone! As my grandfather said, \u201cWhile you\u2019re in university, enjoy being in university\u201d. I\u2019d encourage students to take advantage of the DICE network, societies like the Women in Conversation Canterbury Network, and the opportunities to get involved with the BioBlitz, community garden and additional field work.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are Centres for Species Survival? Centres for Species Survival (CSSs), are partnerships between the IUCN SSC (Species Survival Commission) and leading species conservation organisations.\u00a0The … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83585,"featured_media":855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[807],"tags":[6599],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83585"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/dice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What first interested you<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>in conservation as a career? Did you always know that you wanted to work in this field?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n
How did you come to this role?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\nWhat were your highlights from DICE?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n
What drew you to DICE?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n
What was it like being an international student?<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n
Do you have any advice for students who either are on the programme or might be thinking about joining it?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n