On our 29th "birthday" we're digging into the past.
July is the anniversary of the first edition of Countryside Jobs Service being posted out to subscribers.
A few weeks ago a past subscriber got in touch to ask if by any chance we had copies of quite old CJS editions as she wanted the ads to illustrate the talk she was giving to students about her career which got us wondering, how have the many past subscribers fared over the years? We contacted a few and put out a general "can you help?" Here are a couple of the replies.
How did I get here?
By Susan Webster – Access Education Officer, NatureScot
By a quirk of fate, I did a degree in Environmental Science (I went to Stirling University to do English Literature and thought I might be a teacher). Go where your heart is, environmental science was far more interesting!
After most of a year volunteering on conservation projects (always worthwhile) I started work as a seasonal countryside ranger in 1985 at Lochore Meadows country park in Fife, sunny Scotland. It was a brilliant place to work. We did a lot of environmental education that summer including running a playscheme and the West Fife Conservation Volunteers (many ex-miners). Later that year I was lucky to get a full-time position at Croxteth Country Park in Liverpool and under the tutelage of senior ranger Niall Carson we ran our own playscheme there and helped to set up the Mersey and Dee Ranger group. I really enjoyed working with the non-certificate school kids showing them what careers they could aim for in the conservation sector, I was popular because I had the same accent as Kenny Dalglish who had recently become player-manager for Liverpool FC. A sense of humour always helps. Travelling south was hard for me but it is always worth taking every opportunity offered.
The pull of my homeland was strong and a couple of years later I began work in Fife Regional Park, recently designated (and the most beautiful of the three regional parks in Scotland, of course). The job involved a mix of practical management, keeping landowners and farmers happy and working with local schools. Lots of walking and talking. Listening as well. I learned a lot.
I then went on to do primary teaching and taught in a primary school in Oban, doing as much as I could outdoors.
29 years ago when Niall Carson (see ref above) set up the CJS I was working for Scottish Natural Heritage promoting outdoor learning in the formal sector and trying very hard, with others, to influence the ‘new’ 5-14 curriculum in Scotland. My formal education qualification got me into that position – always look for avenues to get you where you would like to go.
CJS became the go to newsletter (this was pre internet) for folk progressing into countryside management at many levels. It has always been interesting to see what is coming along, sharing this with many folk looking to work in the sector. Niall did an amazing job.
I had two boys, took a deep breath and set myself up in business for 6 years whilst they grew up and went to school. Most notably at this time I wrote a teaching pack about peatlands Wild, Wet and Wonderful and helped to deliver ‘Wee Green Fingers’ workshops to pre school educators across Scotland, encouraging outdoor learning and growing. Lots of challenges.
I returned to SNH, now renamed NatureScot, and I have been lucky enough to do a variety of jobs, I now work mainly in access education. We have amazing access legislation in Scotland but with those rights come responsibilities and part of my role is to promote the resources available to help people understand the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and put good behaviour into practice.
Take a look at our activity pack and share it!
One of my sons works in conservation, with the capercaillie project in the Cairngorms national park (the most beautiful of the two national parks in Scotland…). He has benefited immensely from the CJS as have many of his friends and colleagues.
I would say that in conservation it’s very difficult to tell those groups of people apart.
As I was once told : laugh every day, do the best you can at every job you do no matter how small and, finally, find a job you love and you will never ‘work’ a day in your life.
Ann-Marie MacMaster's journey
Beaver Officer at NatureScot
My career in wildlife management began with a volunteer Field Assistant role on the Red Deer Project on the Isle Rum. It was during my time there that I discovered the Countryside Job Service – ‘You must sign up for that, it’s the bible when it comes to wildlife jobs!’ I have lost track of the number of times I have passed this advice on over the last 23 years.
Today I work for NatureScot as a Beaver Officer, based in Perthshire. I help deliver the beaver mitigation scheme by supporting people to live alongside the reintroduced beaver. The first post I took in Tayside was Red Kite Officer, monitoring the breeding success of the reintroduced red kite. This was one of my favourite jobs; I spent hours in the field observing the kites and nest searching. Liaising with landowners and managers was a big part of the role and although I didn’t realise it at the time, I was laying the foundations for working with these same stakeholders on one of the most controversial species in Scotland, 14 years later.
I have never had a grand plan however I knew I needed to spend my life working in something I enjoyed and believed in. Encouraging and empowering people to protect their local wildlife, and seeing their success and enthusiasm, is something that really motivates me. I found my niche in invasive non-native species management, in positions such as Conservation Officer with Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels; Mink Officer and subsequently Project Coordinator with Scottish Mink Initiative.
Although controlling animals wasn’t something I planned to get involved in, it is an undeniably vital in conservation. I was a Red Squirrel Conservation Officer in Dumfries and Galloway in 2007 when the first red squirrel with Squirrelpox virus was found in Scotland; I saw first-hand what this disease, carried by the grey squirrel, meant for our native squirrel. There is no doubt in my mind that removing the grey squirrel is fundamental in safeguarding the red squirrel. I learned as much as I could about grey squirrel trapping from experienced grey squirrel trappers, and it’s something that I still do today on a voluntary basis.
Whilst working on the Scottish Mink Initiative, I met lots of people who had lost poultry, fish, etc to American mink. These opportunistic predators can have a huge impact over a short period of time. Seeing volunteers work together to remove 10s of mink from one water course, followed by reports of returning kingfisher and moorhen, confirmed to me that the work I was doing was indeed worthwhile and something I was proud to be a part of.
Although my career choice hasn’t led to an easy life (lack of job stability; lack of money; and lack of ability to plan) and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered a career change, I can’t honestly see myself doing anything else. I have had the privilege of working with and learning from, some very knowledgeable people; I have lived in some fantastic places and worked closely with some truly amazing wildlife. Those experiences (together with the less positive ones!) have made me the passionate and driven ecologist I am today.
Funnily enough CJS Ed Kerryn Humphreys is also a past subscriber! She says: As I entered the third year of my ecology degree my thoughts began to turn to what I was going to do when I left university and so I headed off to the University Careers Centre and Library. The very helpful people there steered me towards the resources for science students and there in an A4 folder was a flyer for this new thing called Countryside Jobs Service, I added it to my growing bundle of literature and headed back home to read through everything. I wrote off to various places for information including to CJS, it must have been during the holidays because I distinctly remember receiving a sample copy of the newsletter (around 4 pages of closely typed A4) and an information sheet with the message written across the top in handwriting that would eventually become very familiar: "Thanks for the S.A.E. but I think we can manage the few miles to Goathland!"; Niall and Anthea had dropped in the information when they were passing. Little did any of us realise that around 10 years later we'd be moving the whole office those few miles up the hill. There have been many steps and mis-steps along the way but now I'm here doing what Niall and Anthea did all those years ago.
If you remember those early typed A4 sheets of text that landed on your doormat every Monday let us know where you are now and what you've done in the mean time.