Job Title: Head of Marine

Name: Georgia de Jong Cleyndert

a smiling person in a hat and yellow wellies crouching down on the beach — Looking for invertebrates in the intertidal mudflats in the Walney Channel (Cumbria Wildlife Trust)

Location: Based out of Cumbria but also covering Lancashire and Cheshire

Employer: Cumbria Wildlife Trust

a person in snorkelling gear in a murky sea — Snorkelling during the Isle of Man Irish Sea Network meeting. A rare time that I’m able to get in the water for work! (Leigh Morris, Manx Wildlife Trust)

Job Responsibilities:

I manage a diverse programme of marine conservation across the North West, working on policy, advocacy, community engagement and research/monitoring. Works include advocating for better protection of the marine environment through a better managed and ecologically coherent MPA network, working with offshore wind farms and other developers to ensure that developments are built in the least damaging way as possible, working with the fishing industry to promote sustainable fishing practices, working with the Irish Sea Network to advocate for cross national working and cross boarder collaboration in order to better manage the Irish Sea at a regional scale. Other projects include community engagement and outreach, seagrass restoration and wildlife monitoring and managing a cross sector internship programme.

The majority of my time is spent doing project management and development, writing funding bids and line managing a team of 7, as well as responding to consultations and partnership working.

My time is spent mainly indoors with occasional site visits and monitoring of a seal population in the North West of England. It’s always a lovely treat to get out of the office!

one person standing with a microphone in front of another person with a camera phone. I ruined building in the background — An interview with Manx Radio during an annual Irish Sea Network meeting, hosted this year on the Isle of Man (Leigh Morris, Manx Wildlife Trust)

Is there any seasonal variation? No, it is pretty consistent throughout the year, although some projects (for example community engagement projects) are much busier during the summer months. On the other hand, monitoring of the seal population happens over the winter months.

Qualifications needed:

Degrees help but are absolutely not the only way into the conservation world – passion and experience can go a long way. I had a very unusual route into marine ecology and conservation. After studying BA History, I worked on a yacht that sailed around the world and was lucky enough to learn first hand about both the wonders of the ocean as well as both its resilience and fragility. This was a turning point from which I was motivated to gain more knowledge about the biology and ecology of the ocean and how it is affected by human activity and from there studies MSc Marine Environmental Management at the University of York.

Skills needed:

Communication, Leadership, Organization, Time management, Problem-solving, Budget management, Motivation, Technical writing, Adaptability, Reporting skills, Research skills

Advice to anyone looking at similar roles:

It is incredibly rewarding but be prepared to spend less time outside in the field! My advice would be to build up your Network as best you can. Partnership working is essential!