The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, National Seagrass Action Plan Project Manager Carl Gough shares his experiences and the route he took to a career in conservation. Job Description Carl
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, Project Seagrass Programme Manager Mark Hart shares his experiences and the route he took to a career in conservation. Job Description Mark has been
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, Project Seagrass Senior Science Officer Ally Evans shares her experiences and the route she took to a career in conservation. Job Description and Skills
When you think of a career in conservation, what do you see? A lot of people will think a role in conservation is all exciting fieldwork – being out in the field all day every day, monitoring species, and restoring habitats. But this isn’t always the case. Conservation is a
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, Project Seagrass Finance Manager Andrew Lee shares his experiences and the route he took to a career in conservation. Job Description and Skills Andrew
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, National Seagrass Action Plan Project Manager Carl Gough shares his experiences and the route he took to a career in conservation. Job Description Carl began his role as Project Manager for the National Seagrass Action Plan in March 2025. The National Seagrass Action Plan presents a blueprint of action to achieve a vision where Welsh seagrass meadows are supporting marine biodiversity, vibrant communities, a sustainable economy, and making a valuable contribution to the climate emergency response. The 4 priority areas of action needed to achieve this vision are: Mapping Wales’ seagrass Building partnerships across land and sea Halting seagrass loss Reversing seagrass loss. Carl’s role involves cultivating a supportive operational environment for seagrass conservation in Wales. Carl’s main responsibilities include coordinating Seagrass Network Cymru partner organisations, reporting, strategic planning, organising funding, networking, communications, meeting facilitation, and governance. Carl notes that listening, negotiation, communication, planning, and flexibility are the most helpful skills he utilises to carry out his role. Problem solving is Carl’s favourite aspect of his role, stating: “Any difficulty is an opportunity depending on how you choose to approach it.” Previous Experience Carl left school at the age of 15 and joined a youth training scheme, working in pet shops followed by a public aquarium. At the age of 21, he returned to education and completed a BSC in Marine Biology before achieving an MSc in Zoology. Carl highlights that the life experience he gained between leaving school and returning to full time education was invaluable and says that even the jobs he didn’t perhaps enjoy at the time provided him with valuable skills and knowledge. When asked about which of his previous roles and experiences led to his current role as Project Manager, Carl said: “I’m sure my background in marine science helps, but it is certainly not the main reason for my appointment. My background and the skills I have developed from working in community development are possibly the most relevant to my role. This has included working in local authorities developing, facilitating, and monitoring large scale strategic plans; working directly with communities and being able to navigate the conflicting priorities that so often exists; supporting social enterprises with business planning and securing funding and interfacing with Welsh Government; and translating national policies into local action.” Advice Carl suggests that the qualities of patience, resilience, and perseverance make someone ideal for working in conservation. When asked what he would look for if recruiting for his own role Carl said, “Most of all, someone who has experience of local communities and demonstrable examples where they have managed to achieve a successful outcome when faced with multiple and differing viewpoints.” Carl also emphasised the importance of networking to help build connections: “Networking is very important! Getting active on LinkedIn is a useful way to develop your knowledge as well as your connections.”
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, Project Seagrass Programme Manager Mark Hart shares his experiences and the route he took to a career in conservation. Job Description Mark has been Programme Manager with Project Seagrass since the end of 2025. As Programme Manager, Mark spends a lot of time working closely with the science and operations teams to co-ordinate and deliver a portfolio of projects to agreed timescales, budgets, and outcomes. He leads the setting up of new projects, including development of project plans and reporting frameworks, supports the implementation of new systems and processes to improve efficiency and collaboration, liaises with internal and external stakeholders and ensures compliance with contractual requirements, funder expectations, and organisational policies and strategy. Solid IT skills and being a good communicator are essential skills for this role. Although fieldwork is not an essential aspect, Mark mentions how attending fieldwork where the opportunity arises is beneficial as it helps him better understand operational challenges, costs, timescales and risks. Mark most enjoys the teamwork aspect of his role, as well as meeting like-minded people and contributing to better outcomes for nature. Previous Experience Previously, Mark has had various roles in the UK Hydrographic Office, NHS, local government, consultancy and Royal Navy related to risk and project management deliverables as well as volunteering as a school governor and with his local Wildlife Trust. He notes how despite the various roles throughout his career, he enjoyed sciences and the environment as a student and never lost that enthusiasm. During university, Mark studied a BSc in Oceanography and an MA in International Security. Mark notes the experience he gained in previous roles with operational delivery, strategic planning, partnership working, and collaboration across different sectors were most helpful in getting him where he is today. Advice Mark suggests that the best qualities that make someone ideal for working in conservation are passion, energy, a can-do attitude, and a love of the outdoors. Mark previously knew very little about seagrass until he started working with the organisation – so it is important to remember you don’t have to be an expert in a subject before starting to work with it!
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, Project Seagrass Senior Science Officer Ally Evans shares her experiences and the route she took to a career in conservation. Job Description and Skills Ally first worked with Project Seagrass through roles at Swansea University – leading the Seagrass Ocean Rescue: North Wales programme and then joined the Restoration of Seagrass for Ocean Wealth (ReSOW) project to understand how social and governance factors can be used to support seagrass restoration. She started her current role with Project Seagrass in December 2025 as Senior Science Officer at our Seagrass Nursery in West Wales. Her role as Senior Science Officer consists primarily of designing experiments, collecting and analysing data, writing scientific reports, publishing peer-reviewed papers and communicating work to broader audiences via conferences and other outlets. Ally notes the most useful skills required for her role are good attention to detail and communication (both written and spoken), critical thinking, creative planning, data analysis, and a can-do attitude to learning new things. When asked what she enjoys most about her scientific roles, Ally talked about her love-hate relationship with fieldwork, stating: ‘I love setting my rhythm to the moon and tides and working outdoors, problem-solving, and observing nature close-up. But I hate being cold and wet and the disappointment of losing experiments or failing at what I’m trying to do because of weather, tides, etc. It’s exhausting but it’s what makes me tick as a scientist.’ Previous Experience After initially beginning a Psychology undergraduate degree, Ally switched to studying Maths. From there she completed an MSc in Global Aquatic Biodiversity: Monitoring and Conservation and a PhD focusing on ‘Artificial coastal defence structures as surrogate habitats for natural rocky shores: giving nature a helping hand’. Looking back, Ally mentions she wishes she had done a BSc in Marine Biology instead of Maths, noting she didn’t know Marine Biology was even an option when first looking for undergraduate degrees. Despite this, Ally believes the Maths degree was helpful for her career as it gave her a solid understanding of statistics and kept all doors open. Despite not being science-related, Ally mentions how equally impactful her initial student jobs in hospitality have been throughout her career. These roles taught her to have pride in her work and she was able to develop interpersonal skills early on, making future interviews and professional interactions more comfortable and successful. After completing her Master’s degree, Ally volunteered for a marine wildlife charity to gain experience before getting her first job for CEFAS as a GIS and Data Scientist. Other paid roles include working for a marine conservation charity in the tropics, with Natural England as a Marine Advisor and a Lab Assistant with the British Antarctic Survey. Post-PhD, Ally went on to work in a series of postdoc research positions at Southampton, Plymouth, Aberystwyth and Swansea Universities before finally joining Project Seagrass. Her experience in the field includes both intertidal and subtidal work consisting of dive, snorkel, and on-land surveys. Ally has also set up manipulative experiments such as planting seagrass plots and attaching bolt-on habitat units to artificial structures and is a qualified skipper. Ally monitoring an eco-engineering experiment on a seawall in Milford Haven Ally diving under Busselton Jetty in Western Australia Ally points out that no specific experience stands out in getting her to where she is today, but each was a stepping stone, allowing her to develop valuable transferable skills which have all led to her being the scientist she is today. Growing up, Ally didn’t know she wanted to work as a marine biologist. She knew she enjoyed the outdoors and biology, but wasn’t aware marine science was a potential career path. She even notes how a career advisor suggested potato farming as a career path to fit her love of the outdoors! It wasn’t until after a gap year of learning to surf and dive that Ally realised her true passion and where she wanted to focus her life’s energy. Ally points out even if you don’t have a traditional direct route into a career, there is always a route and the skills you gain along the way will still benefit you and make you stand out amongst the crowd. When asked about some of the challenges she has faced throughout her career, Ally said: ‘Weather, tides, vandalism of experiments, exhaustion, anti-social hours, limited budgets, etc. In terms of the science itself, nature doesn’t work like a lot of other sciences – ecological data are always messy and incomplete and there is a lot of variability/noise that can mask patterns and responses. It’s hard to design really robust experiments and to collect enough data to answer your questions with any confidence. But for a lot of us working in the sector, overcoming these problems is part of the draw.” Advice for working in conservation This is the advice that Ally has for those wanting to get into the sector: Q. Do you have any recommendations of where to look for job opportunities? A. I haven’t actively looked for a while. It used to be twitter – so maybe now LinkedIn? Jobs.ac.uk, conservationjobs.com, Bob Earl’s Coastnet. Q. How important is networking and do you have any advice on how to build connections? A. I hate the thought of networking but in reality all it is is being a nice approachable human being and putting yourself in positions where you have an opportunity to meet people and chat. Don’t try to impress or be something you’re not – just be interested, be yourself, and respect people at all levels. Q. What should someone expect when starting a career in conservation? A. The more flexible and willing you can be regarding what job you do and where, the more doors will open to you. Q. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a career in
When you think of a career in conservation, what do you see? A lot of people will think a role in conservation is all exciting fieldwork – being out in the field all day every day, monitoring species, and restoring habitats. But this isn’t always the case. Conservation is a very broad sector and requires all sorts of job roles and experiences for organisations to successfully run and for the work to be impactful. Research, engagement with the public and other organisations, communications, fundraising, project management, HR are just some of the essential roles required for effective projects. This new blog series ‘Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface’ takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the sector and talks to the people behind these roles at Project Seagrass to find out how they got to where they are and what insights and advice they can offer to those wanting to get into the sector. Explore the series: Andrew Lee Find out more about Andrew’s role as Finance Manager Discover More Ally Evans Find out more about Andrew’s role as Senior Science Officer Discover More Mark Hart Find out more about Mark’s role as Programme Manager Discover More Carl Gough Find out more about Carl’s role as NSAP Project Manager Discover More This blog series exploring Project Seagrass’ Conservation Careers was curated by Conservation Trainee Abi David. Abi was a panel members at the Youth Panel session at the UK Seagrass Symposium 2025 where young people shared their experiences of struggling to know what opportunities and pathways there are into a career in conservation sector. This blog series is a response to those discussions.
The Careers in Conservation: Below the Surface series takes a deep dive into the variety of job roles available within the conservation sector. In this article, Project Seagrass Finance Manager Andrew Lee shares his experiences and the route he took to a career in conservation. Job Description and Skills Andrew joined Project Seagrass as Finance Manager in 2023. Day to day responsibilities within this role include: General financial management of the Charity End of year accounts preparation Regular financial management reports (for Exec and Board) Drafting and managing budgets Fund management and reporting (including project funding) Managing and processing day-to-day transactions and accounting entries Developing/reviewing/managing finance related policies and controls General management support to the Executive team In Andrew’s opinion, the most valuable skills he uses day to day are methodical and process centred thinking, interpersonal skills, effective problem solving, adaptability, and a good understanding of Excel. He also pointed out how his transferable skills were as valuable as specific finance related knowledge during his application for the role. When asked what he enjoys most about his role, Andrew mentioned how good it feels knowing his work is supporting the wider team and enabling them to carry out their work, as well as the satisfaction of achieving balanced reports! Previous Experience A BSc in Accounting and a Master’s degree in Management helped Andrew achieve his current role, alongside a wealth of other experiences. He has always worked in the charity sector, including a position as Church Manager for 20+ years, but this role with Project Seagrass is his first role within conservation. Advice for working in conservation When asked what advice he has for people looking to start a career in conservation/ restoration, Andrew said: ‘Conservation and restoration needs many different areas of expertise to function and thrive. It’s not just about the scientists and conservationists. There are amazing career paths in finance, HR, management etc where you can utilise your skills to contribute to conservation and restoration. These roles are essential to provide a strong organisation under which the scientists and conservationists can thrive.’ When discussing the qualities he would look for if hiring for his own role, Andrew emphasised the importance of a genuine passion for the cause, alongside strong financial management skills — particularly within charity finance. He also noted that successful candidates should be methodical, organised, and able to perform well under pressure. In terms of searching for roles, Andrew recommends looking on charityjobs.co.uk, LinkedIn and to find organisations linked to your passion/ interests and actively pursue jobs with them. Andrew supports Project Seagrass’ citizen science tool SeagrassSpotter. Here is a seagrass sighting that Andrew uploaded during a holiday in Pulurrian Cove, Cornwall. Andrew joined the North Wales fieldwork team for their summer seagrass seed collection in summer 2024. As part of the trip Andrew installed new seagrass signage at Hafan y Mor.
