Written by Andrea Godoy Mendoza I grew up in a country with a wildly biodiverse and exuberant natural world but where, ironically, starting a conversation about sustainability or conservation will often get you labelled as an idealist or a hippie (at best). I may not have been fully aware of what I was getting myself […]

Written by Tamara Kovačič Lonely Conservationists posted a while back that they needed a new photo for their Instagram page. I have quite a few photographs in stock because I am a biologist and have previously had the opportunity to visit many lovely places. So I gave it a go. While browsing through the folders, […]

Written by Nicole Lussier A scarlet macaw screeching overhead, a pink river dolphin chasing your boat, a caiman basking in the sun; the flora and fauna of the Amazon Rainforest are truly incredible. The Amazon is, of course, one of the most biodiverse places on earth, with over 1500 species of birds, 430 mammals, 16,000 […]

Written by Debanngini Ray When people ask me, how did you end up doing what you do? My usual reply is, “In the morning I chase the butterflies and at night I let the fireflies lead the way!” Growing up in a neighbourhood devoid of tall buildings or infrastructure, surrounded by Assam-type houses (type of […]

Written by Kayla Fratt I was fired, effective immediately. Through tears, I listened as the man who’d scouted and hired me for my dream job explained that because I was being let go within a 6-month probationary period of a position change (despite being at the organization for 18 months), I would not receive any […]

Written by Natalie Tyler I grew up in the Ohio suburbs. As an only child of a single parent, I was often asked to entertain myself and to “go play outside”. Fortunate to have a large backyard, swingset, and basketball hoop, I would happily spend hours outside playing either alone or with my neighbourhood friends. […]

Written by Laura Marsh My last blog You are enough talked about my severe depression from thinking I had to be a perfect conservationist. It’s paralyzing to learn about all the ways we are harming the planet. But then there’s added pressure to act in the most ethical, perfect way to minimize further harm. This […]

Written by Julia I’ve been working in conservation for over 10 years, one of those who worked up through the ranks by volunteering after my mostly useless humanities BA and work history in administration. I’ve worked in environmental education, project leading, animal rehab (briefly), and research, and I loved it all, but I always felt […]

Written by Gillian When I was 10 years old, I decided one day that I would no longer be afraid of anything. Spiders no longer meant me harm, heights were just temporary discomfort, and the shadows in the forest should be explored- not feared. All I had to do was just push through my hesitation […]

Written by Tirth Vaishnav The idea of being alone is not inherently scary for me. The idea of feeling alone, however, is an entirely different beast. Being the youngest in a joint family of seven and having grown up in Mumbai, one of the most crowded cities in the world, getting some alone time seemed […]

Written by Mel Christi Acceptance. Resignation. Two sides to the same coin. They have different connotations, and yet for me in this context they are the same. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there are things about me I cannot change, so I must simply accept myself. Like many others before me who have […]

Written by Jarryd Minahan Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated with the natural world, the outdoors was my thing, camping with my dad in the high country of Victoria and fishing all around Phillip island, where I now live, was I think what started it all. I started surfing in my teens […]

Written by Rhian My mental health has defined my life.  It lost me the conservation career I worked so hard for, and yet it’s helped me to grow as a person too.  I only ever tell people parts of my story when I feel overwhelmed, but never the whole thing. So, here goes. As a […]

Written by Hannah Carle This year has been incredibly challenging. The nexus of two impossible things – a PhD and a global pandemic. To start with a caveat – yes, I am fortunate to be living in Australia, where our daily lives have largely returned to ‘normal’ and we have not been marred by widespread […]

Written by Stephanie Rowe Conservation to me, has always meant something deeper than what it represents for the environment as such. I truly believe we are connected to nature, in such a way, that it is only a holistic approach that can be used to move forward with it. I want to take this space […]

Written by Stella Diamant I guess the intent behind this (first) blog is to guide fellow conservationists about getting your mission out there in a balanced way.  I was lucky to seize a unique opportunity, to build a project from scratch on an emblematic species, the whale shark, without any experience in either project management […]

Written by Roxanne In my previous blog, Born This Way, I gave a summary on my path in the conservation sector with the rare neurological condition, Chiari Malformation.  I wrote about the difficult aspects of managing a disability in a physically demanding profession, as well as actions to progress in a field I love. What […]

Written by Madhushri Mudke Ten years ago, the dilemma of finding an appropriate career in wildlife that allowed me to ‘work with wildlife’ was a daunting path to take. One begins to ruminate – ‘I love animals’, ‘I love being in the wild’ or ‘We must save wildlife and forests to combat climate change’. Back […]

January  I started off this year with a new zest for what was possible as I headed out to the smoke covered field with a fellow LC (and entomologist) where we worked day and night to study the birds and insects on an agricultural property for a….wait for it…paying client! Feeling valued for our work, […]

Written by Roxanne The Early Years My passion for conservation, like many, has its roots in early childhood.  It was watching the well-known presenters like Steve Irwin and David Attenborough, but before Animal Planet was reality show-centric, there were others I enjoyed and learned from.  They were reptile enthusiast and photographer, Austin Stevens; biologist, Jeff […]

Written by Manon de Visser Young and maybe a little naïve: that is what makes us great conservationists!   Once, I was at a job interview. I was nicely dressed and felt pretty confident. I had gotten through two rounds and was in the third (and final) round of the application process. The first two times […]

Written by Michela Fieni There is no worse feeling than seeing all the environmental destruction in the world and wanting to make a positive contribution, but barely having the means to do so. I’m lucky enough to live in Australia, where bush regeneration was basically born. Back in 2015 when the ‘Green Army’ program was […]

Written by Isobel Bobbera This one’s rather long, so apologies in advance. I grew up and have spent the 23 years of my so far little life on The Bellarine Peninsula south of Melbourne, Australia. I’ve lived with my family on the same block of land my entire life and wouldn’t change it for anything. […]

Written by Chagi Weerasena Hello! My name is Chagi and I’m an ecologist in Brisbane, Australia. My path to becoming an ecologist was not a straight one, it was very much a zig-zig, or a squiggle. I am a first-generation immigrant of Sri Lankan parents. From a young age I was given medical kits to […]

Written by Taylor Tvede I’ve wanted to work with animals since I was a kid, but in my mind that always meant something like dolphin trainer or the person at the zoo who did the bird shows and got to teach everyone neat things about cool animals. Being a vet was an option I had […]

Written by Nicholas Horne I started this blog nearly 6 months ago, I really wanted to contribute to the Lonely Conservationists as I feel it’s an exceptional idea that can promote so much positivity. However, it has been extremely difficult to write about my past experiences. So why did am I back writing this blog? […]

Written by Adam Cook My parents first knew my love for wildlife when I was three years old. Mum would always tell the story of when I went to Marwell Zoological Park and I went around correcting people when they miss identified animals. One example was when a lady said to her children “look at […]

The thing about being a Lonely Conservationist is that sometimes we forget that we aren’t that lonely anymore. A LC reached out to me asking if I could ask the group advice for approaching a supervisor with the potential to do a PhD. It was her goal, but she was nervous as she knew the […]

Written by Jessica Leck My name is Jessica Leck, and as I write this, my hometown is on fire. I live on the mid north coast of Australia, and this week has seen an area roughly seven times greater than the Amazon fires burn across my home state. Friends have lost homes and others have […]

Written by Freya Santana Cubas My name is Freya, and if you come from Europe you have probably seen my home island advertised a thousand times as a holiday destination. Gran Canaria, west to the Moroccan coast, belongs to the Canary Islands. Seven islands, very close to each other, yet so different; ‘the fortunate islands’, […]