Conservation

Successful conservation is built with communities. Lasting conservation is built through partnerships that respect local knowledge, recognise community priorities and work towards shared goals, while scientific research provides a broader ecological perspective that can help inform evidence-based conservation. I have been fortunate to contribute to projects spanning community engagement, environmental education, protected area management and ecological research. These experiences have reinforced my belief that the strongest conservation outcomes are achieved when local knowledge and scientific evidence work together.

Conservation is collaborative

My professional industry placement with Panama Wildlife Conservation (PWC) provided an opportunity to experience conservation from within a community-based conservation organisation. Working within a small conservation NGO provided first-hand experience of how successful conservation depends upon many interconnected activities extending well beyond ecological fieldwork.

During the placement I contributed to:

Sea turtle conservation at the Malena Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Project.
Environmental education programmes in communities surrounding Cerro Hoya National Park.
Community engagement and citizen science supporting Great Green Macaw conservation.
CITES CoP19 educational outreach and event planning.
Grant development, project planning and organisational communications.
Habitat restoration through the LEAF reforestation initiative.

Experiencing these diverse aspects of conservation demonstrated that lasting conservation outcomes depend as much on communication, partnerships and organisational capacity as they do on biological research.

Conservation is strengthened through the exchange of practical knowledge between organisations. During PWC training in Costa Rica, we partnered with Ara Manzanillo; working alongside an established conservation programme to develop a recovery strategy for Great Green Macaws in Panama. We gained experience in artificial nest construction, rope-access tree climbing and nest monitoring. Sharing techniques between projects highlighted how conservation continually evolves through collaboration and adaptation of successful approaches across regions.

Science Supporting Conservation

During my PhD, I returned to Panama as a Marine Conservation and Research Intern with Coiba AIP, where I explored how ecological research can directly support practical conservation. Although my doctoral research formed part of this placement, the internship also provided valuable experience working across two contrasting olive ridley nesting sites. At Malena Beach, I contributed to research and conservation within a long-term community-based conservation programme focused on solitary nesting females, while fieldwork at Playa La Marinera introduced me to one of the world's few remaining arribada nesting beaches, where thousands of olive ridley turtles nest simultaneously. Experiencing both nesting strategies provided valuable insight into the diverse approaches required to conserve the same species across different ecological settings.

During my internship with Coiba AIP, I contributed to:

Ecological fieldwork and biological sampling supporting marine conservation research.
Conservation activities across both solitary and arribada olive ridley nesting beaches.
Experiencing first-hand how ecological research, biodiversity monitoring and conservation management work together to inform long-term conservation.
Collaborative conservation alongside researchers, conservation practitioners and protected-area managers.
Science diplomacy events with SENACYT, visiting Coiba National Park and engaging with delegates from across Latin America on marine conservation and scientific collaboration.
Communicating the ecological importance of Panama's Pacific marine ecosystems and the Tropical Eastern Pacific Marine Corridor to visiting researchers and international delegates.
Supporting conservation awareness through guided snorkelling expeditions showcasing the biodiversity of Panama's Pacific coast.

Looking Ahead

Working alongside local conservation practitioners and community members demonstrated that conservation is most successful when projects are developed with the people who will continue protecting these ecosystems long after researchers and volunteers have left.

My ambition is to continue working at the interface between ecological research and practical conservation. Whether contributing to threatened species recovery, biodiversity monitoring or ecosystem management, I hope to work on projects where scientific evidence informs real-world conservation decisions and where long-term collaboration helps create lasting benefits for wildlife and the people who share these landscapes.

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