Creating the Career I Couldn't Find

By Keiron Brown, Senior Naturalist at Biological Recording Company

From a young age I was fascinated by nature, and biology became my favourite subject at school, so it was no surprise to anyone that I chose to study Biology at university. Aged 24 I went travelling in Australia where I volunteered on research projects and my desire to work within the biodiversity sector was cemented. So, following a stint working in an environmental lab (and a number of restaurant jobs), I decided to move to London to pursue a career, undertaking a voluntary position at the Natural History Museum while subsidising myself through more restaurant work.

At this point I was very naive to just how competitive jobs in conservation were and I struggled to get an entry-level job despite the years of volunteering at the NHM ticking by. My first position finally came in the form of a role on the National Bat Helpline with the Bat Conservation Trust. During my six years here, I expanded my volunteering to the Earthworm Society of Britain, where I developed and managed the National Earthworm Recording Scheme. At this point I had realised that my dream role would revolve around invertebrates and biological recording – but finding such a role would not be easy, as most jobs seemed to be with ecological consultancies or reserve management.

Then I struck gold! A project development job was advertised with the Field Studies Council centred around a project to develop skills in amateur naturalists for difficult-to-identify and under-recorded groups. I got the job, the project got the funding and I spent six years working on my dream project. The FSC BioLinks project delivered almost 490 in-person courses, 36 online courses and 85 webinars – educating large numbers of new and existing biological recorders across London and the West Midlands and generating 35,000 new species occurrence records.

However, during my time at the NHM, BCT and Field Studies Council there was a growing frustration building in me relating to my work life. I loved the day-to-day work, and the services that I was delivering were impactful and meaningful, but around me I saw people struggling to secure long-term positions as they skipped between short fixed-term roles, and, furthermore, they were remunerated well below their skill level. When I raised these issues with those more senior in the sector, they would acknowledge the issue but defend it with "we're a charity" and "funds are limited". I decided that I'd finish out the FSC BioLinks project but that I couldn't continue within the charity sector, knowing that this would likely mean being underpaid for life and at age 39 I was concerned that I was still renting when all of my friends from other sectors were a decade or so into their mortgages. I felt left behind, under-valued and was equally passionate and despondent about my career.

In February 2023 my time at the Field Studies Council came to an end and I set up the Biological Recording Company. The company would provide the specialist services that I'd developed a reputation for: hosting biological recording events and training, delivering webinars, and providing earthworm consultancy services.

My family and friends (both within and outside of the environmental sector) were worried for my future, but I shrugged it off with a plan to take my project management experience outside of the sector if I couldn't make it work. I had little in savings and no room for a slow start so I had to hit the ground running, but I'd planned for this and in my first year I had already exceeded the salary I'd left behind.

Three years in and the Biological Recording Company now has a strong reputation within the sector. Many know us for our large programme of virtual events and the online courses that we deliver. Within the conservation sector, we're also the go-to (and pretty much only) providers of earthworm engagement, survey and ID services. The biological recording sector regularly commissions us for consultation, guidance and skills development projects. The company became too much for one person and I took a chance on one of our young regular event attendees – an extremely passionate invertebrate recorder completing his Masters dissertation on verification of iNaturalist records.

I now can't imagine going back to working for a bigger organisation, particularly with the bureaucracy, inefficiencies and underpaid salaries that seem to still accompany these roles. I'm lucky to work in a role where no two weeks are the same, and I have a mix of working outdoors, in the lab and at my desk.

What's more, I made a promise that I would not be part of the problem that frustrated me so much. I surveyed natural history tutors, published the results and set the rate that I offer our specialist naturalist contractors at the rate that they advised. When I recruited a staff member, I set the salary at an appropriate amount for his skills and experience, and introduced a clear system for progression and earning pay rises based on performance, skills development and time in service.

My happiness now comes from the appreciation that we receive from the many people that we educate and support, and knowing that those that I contract feel appreciated and respected. I believe that a resilient environmental sector is a competitive one, and it is my hope that the sector is able to start nurturing its staff in the way that they deserve.

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