Volunteers Week – Lisa’s story

It’s Volunteers Week and we are hearing from one of our Senior Field Officers working on peatland restoration about the part that volunteering played in establishing her career.

After doing a first degree in Fine Art, Lisa Gill changed tack completely and began her journey towards a very different career in conservation.

“I needed volunteer experience to begin my career in conservation. Nowhere takes you seriously unless you have some valid experience. So, in my spare time, I volunteered with the North Pennines National Landscape team and with Durham Wildlife Trust. With the North Pennines I did botanical training courses to be able to do meadow surveys, and courses on bumblebee identification to do bee walks, which I continued for three summer survey seasons.

“With the wildlife trust I also did botanical fieldwork and water vole surveys, all in and around the North Pennines. With both organisations I was getting as much varied experience as possible, learning skills and putting them to practical use, and above all getting many hours of practice that would be essential for future work.

“I was able to use all of this volunteering experience to get onto the Masters degree course on Conservation and Ecosystem Management at the University of Newcastle, even though I didn’t have a relevant undergraduate degree. It was only because I had so much practical volunteering experience, and I remember the interviewer for the University said it was in particular the botanical knowledge, that they considered me for the Masters degree. Without it I would never have stood a chance of getting onto the course that I wanted to do.

“That course had specific content and covered all the relevant skills that I needed for this job role and without it I wouldn’t be working here today.

“For anyone wanting to get into conservation, I would say that volunteering is the key. Without it you don’t necessarily have that relevant, practical experience of fieldwork. I know myself now when I am looking at candidates for jobs, volunteer experience is something that shows that they have committed their own free time, not as part of their course, to learn and develop these skills. It’s something I am definitely looking for as part of any recruitment process.

“Volunteering also gave me contacts more than anything. I was able to meet people working in the right field and I was able to get a better understanding of the range of skills that they had. It was also useful to be able to be part of the organisations where future jobs were potentially available, with an opportunity to ask first-hand what they are after in terms of skills and knowledge.

“I would say that volunteering has been one of the most valuable and useful things that I have done. In my case it got me the job I have now, but it was also very rewarding on a personal level.”