Guidance for Young Professionals

Conservation relies on young, idealistic and passionate people to get important work done, especially in communities and remote places. In turn, each new generation relies on those who came before them, people with decades of field and life experience, to provide proper grounding and sound advice to help them grow and succeed in their chosen careers.

“My whole career has been in conservation. Starting off as a field officer, a wildlife ranger in Australia, I’ve always been in the minority. I’ve always been the only woman in the field. There’s never been a lot of women in conservation in the field. It’s really important as I get older to help more women get involved in conservation if they want to, and to also show an example to them that we can make it to leadership positions too if we want to. To me it’s really important that women like us do step up, if we can, to show younger people that we can do it.”

— Robyn James, Melanesia

While the insights shared in other sections of this report apply to conservation practitioners of every age, the leaders offered a wealth of guidance specifically for young professionals.

**Cultivating Essential and "Super" Skills**