Careers Cafe

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Careers Café

Nia Jones (Community Marine Awareness Officer at North Wales Wildlife Trust)
Nia Jones gave great advice about wanting a career here in North Wales and how to achieve it. However I am sad to say she did not inspire me to pursue one myself. After living here for 3 years I have come to the conclusion that this weather is just not for me! She also spoke about the importance of learning welsh and how communities can be wary of new people. Another reason to be put off! However, it was great to hear about how volunteering has helped her get a paying job as North Wales Wildlife Trust.

Naomi Willis (Health Scientist at Welsh Water)
I didn’t particularly find Naomi’s talk interesting or inspiring but it was helpful to know that you can work your way up through a company. It was nice to know that doing a dull boring job for a few years can pay off and get you into something you find rewarding, even if other people find it boring!

Cherry Shacklady (Head of Biology, Friars School)
I found Cherry’s talk very interesting as I myself have considered a career in teaching. She had previously worked as a primate keeper at Welsh mountain Zoo and completed an access course in Colwyn Bay. She then studied Bio molecular studies at Bangor and after helping younger students when realised she wanted to teach. I found this inspiring as it shows you do not have to have the nest grades in school to become a teacher.

Imogen German (Graduate Teaching Assistant, SBS)
Imogen was perhaps the most relatable as she had only recently graduated in 2007. After graduating she had no idea what she wanted to do and went to work for a telemarketing firm. This is pretty much where I am at right now although I do have a few ideas. She is now doing a PhD at Bangor on beaver reintroduction in Wales which is much more interesting!

Ross Piper (zoologist, author and TV presenter) “take every opportunity and just run with it”
Ross’s talk was definitely the most inspiring and he seemed to have a lot of passion. It was interesting how he talked about all he had done to achieve his PhD and then gave it all up for another job in the city. He said he realised that it was a mistake and regretted it. This was refreshing to hear as I am always scared of making mistakes in life. He is now making wildlife documentary’s for the BBC and very happy! So even if life takes the wrong turn a good thing just might come out of it.

Overall I found the Careers café really valuable and insightful. It was great to hear how things might not work out in the begging but you can get where you want in the end.

December Comments

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http://ktblakeley.wordpress.com/2013/12/21/conservation-at-chester-zoo/comment-page-1/#comment-19

http://bsuc53.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/conservation-in-chester-zoo-6-th-dec/comment-page-1/#comment-3

http://zoologygeek.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/role-up-role-up-come-to-chester-zoo/comment-page-1/#comment-15

http://bsu0af.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/chester-zoo-conservation-efforts-dr-mark-pilgrim-friday-6th-december/comment-page-1/#comment-21

Chester Zoos Mission by Mark Pilgrim

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What is Chester Zoo?

Chester Zoo, located in Cheshire, is the largest Zoo in the UK and is also the country’s second largest paying visitor attraction. In 2012 they had 1.4 million visitors and in 2009 Forbes magazine ranked them as one of the top 15 zoos in the world. The Zoo is almost totally self-funded and employs over 330 people.

Dr. Mark Pilgrim

Mark Pilgrim

Dr Mark Pilgrim. (2012). A Message from our Director General. Available: http://www.chesterzoo.org/global/about-us/a-message-from-the-director-general. Last accessed 26th Dec 2013.

Started working for Chester Zoo 25 years ago as a bird keeper and is now the General Director of Chester Zoo. He studied the Lilacine Amazon, Amazona autumnalis lilacina, also known as the Ecuadorian Red-lored Amazon for his PhD (Pilgrim, 2010). In his work he discovered that the parrot was distinct enough, being a dry forest specialist, that it became classified as its own species and so became classified as endangered by the IUCN.

“Our Mission…to be a major force in conserving biodiversity worldwide”

Our Mission

  1. Biodiversity Conservation
  2. To be a World Class attraction
  3. Animal care

Strategic Objective 1

Focus on Conservation efforts that will have the most impact.

a) there needs to be a real need for  captive breeding program

“not just the cute and cuddly”

b) Direct funding of programs in the field with a long-term commitment. – e.g. the Black Rhino

Black rhino

Emslie, R.. (2012). Diceros bicornis. Available: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6557/0. Last accessed 26th Dec 2013.

c) Inspiring visitors about the natural world and helping them make positive changes in their daily lives.

Strategic Objective 2

To be a world class visitor attraction

  • The Zoo has to be fun and positive with not too many negative messages
  • This year Chester Zoo introduced a large invertebrate display

Strategic Objective 3

To be a centre of excellence for animal care

  • Only Zoo in the UK that has a professiona nutritionist.
  • Has excellent health care for great apes and Asian elephants

Strategic Objective 4

The Long term viability of the Zoo

Strategic Objective 5

Recognising our vital staff

Strategic Objective 6

Improve our reputation as a Zoo

  • Campaigning
  • Say no to poaching
  • Palm oil legislation (in 2015 it will be law that food must be labelled with sustainable or non-sustainable palm oil)

Future development of Chester Zoo

Islands

islands

Unknown. (2012). Welcome to Chester Zoo Islands. Available: http://www.chesterzoo.org/islands. Last accessed 26th Dec 2013.

£30 million invested into Islands. A journey of exploration through South East Asian Islands.

Highly participatory and different.

References

Emslie, R.. (2012). Diceros bicornis. Available: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6557/0. Last accessed 26th Dec 2013.

Pilgrim, Mark Antony. An investigation into the taxonomic status of Amazona autumnalis lilacina using a multidisciplinary approach. Diss. Liverpool John Moores University, 2010.
Dr Mark Pilgrim. (2012). A Message from our Director General. Available: http://www.chesterzoo.org/global/about-us/a-message-from-the-director-general. Last accessed 26th Dec 2013.
Unknown. (2012). Welcome to Chester Zoo Islands. Available: http://www.chesterzoo.org/islands. Last accessed 26th Dec 2013.

Assesed Interviews

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Interviewing other people

The interviews were carried out in groups of four in which one person was to be interviewed and the other three interviewed them. I found the process of interviewing hard as there was no allocated job the individual was being interviewed for. Therefore I felt that I was unable to properly assess how well that individual had done.

Being interview by my peers

I found the interview to be very unrealistic having gone for many job interviews myself. My real life job interviews have gone much better and I have mostly been offered the job. I was awarded a B- during the interview which I felt was fair considering my answers weren’t as good as they could have been; but I felt the questions asked were limited in their response.

Group work

For the group work we had to classify a series of emails in order of importance as to which ones needed to be replied to first. We as a group chose the email about the laboratory accident as our top priority. It was interesting to see many other groups did not see the importance of replying to something which could have such a negative effect on the company.

Being classified as a “plant”

The self assessment questionnaire that we completed at the end of the day determined that I was a “plant”, e.g. I plant ideas and am creative. I feel like this would be the type of role I would like to fulfill in a future company because I enjoy creating and find mundane repetitive work un-fulfilling.

The Pine Marten, Martes martes, and its conservation by the Vincent Wildlife Trust

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vincent wildlife trust

 

  • What is a Pine Marten?

The pine marten is a native mammal to the UK. It’s a member of the Mustelidae family in the order Carnivora.  It has a seasonally omnivorous diet. They are solitary and nocturnal animals which hunt at night. The species has a relatively long life span, and can live for greater than fifteen years. Pine Martens also have a low reproductive rate with a seven month gestation only producing 2-3 kits. Home range of the animal is dependent on the quality of the habitat it is in; in greater quality habitats Pine Martens have greater ranges. Habitat ranges as small as 0.4 km² and as large as 32 km².

pine marten

VWT. (2013). Pine Marten. Available: http://www.vwt.org.uk/species/pine-marten.  Last accessed 27 Nov 2013.

  • What Predators do they face?

Pine martens are preyed upon by several creatures including, foxes, and the golden eagle and in wales in particular the goshawk.

  • Den site availability

Pine martens are known to have a preference for hollow tree cavities; however deforestation means that many are now forced to use ground nesting sites, root systems, burrows and dense vegetation leaving them more vulnerable to predation.

den site

 

VWT. (2013). Pine Marten. Available: http://www.vwt.org.uk/species/pine-marten.  Last accessed 27 Nov 2013.

People and the Pine Marten in Wales

  • The Aims of the Vincent Wildlife trust

 

Monitoring

Techniques used to monitor the Martens include hair tubes, camera traps and scat searches. The samples collected are sent to Waterford institute of technology for analysis. In particular the site Cwm Rheidol (a hydroelectric power station, that encourages biodiversity in its river and surrounding habitat).

DNA sampling

The DNA obtained from the above monitoring can provide crucial evidence on the origin/maintenance of a population. Looking at DNA to identify the sample as a Pine Marten is essential as scats are not reliably identifiable (Birks et al., 2005). Even trained conservation dogs can mistake fox faeces for a Pine Martens.

den box

VWT. (2013). Pine Marten. Available: http://www.vwt.org.uk/species/pine-marten.  Last accessed 27 Nov 2013.

Habitat improvement

In order to combat the lack of available hollow trees due to deforestation, a total of 59 den boxes (target is to install 80) have been installed for the animals to live in.

Public awareness

Many people do not know the Pine Marten is a native species and shoot Pine martens thinking they are a pest. One of the goals of VWT is to engage with the public by doing public surveys and aiming at least 10% of those surveys at people involved with the potential redistribution of the species e.g. famers.

Ecosystem services

Conservation of the Pine martens may actually offer ecosystem services in that they have been shown to reduce fitness in the grey squirrel and therefore aid the restoration of red squirrel populations.

red squirel

 

VWT. (2013). Pine Marten. Available: http://www.vwt.org.uk/species/pine-marten.  Last accessed 27 Nov 2013.

Further Research; could introducing beavers to Wales help Pine Marten recovery by improving the environment (Wright et al., 2004)?

beaver

WE. (2013). Beavers to return to Wales in 2014?. Available: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/wales-beavers013.html#cr.  Last accessed 27 Nov 2013.

References

Birks, Johnny, et al. “Are Scat Surveys a Reliable Method for Assessing Distribution and Population Status of Pine Martens?.” Martens and Fishers (Martes) in Human-Altered Environments. Springer US, 2005. 235-252.

Wright, Justin P., William SC Gurney, and Clive G. Jones. “Patch dynamics in a landscape modified by ecosystem engineers.” Oikos 105.2 (2004): 336-348.