Conservation Careers: Empowering Young People in Conservation
Photo credit: Gift Culture Media/KOTO/Adobe Stock
Sherilyn Bos, Capacity Development Officer at BirdLife International works with the Conservation Leadership Programme to support early career conservationists to overcome threats to nature in places where capacity and access to resources is limited. Here, she tells us about the Programme, her career journey and shares her tips for breaking into the sector.
Why did you choose a career in conservation?
I originally didn’t – I went to medical school first! But then at the start of my studies I volunteered in South Africa for a month and realised that I wanted to do something with animals and nature instead. I studied biology in Paris and went on to do an Applied Wildlife Conservation Masters.
My first job was at BirdLife as an intern with the conservation team for 6 months. Then, my supervisor encouraged me to apply for a job with BirdLife Europe and Central Asia as a research assistant on the MAVA projects. I was there for a year when a new opportunity came up for my current job which was a big change moving from wetland projects to capacity development.
