Applying science for conservation

This year’s Science Week theme is ‘Innovation: Powering Future Industries’. 

We’ve spoken with three early-career scientists and interns at Bush Heritage who are helping to create a better future by applying their scientific knowledge to conservation.

Many of us know what it feels like to leave school or university unsure of where to apply ourselves and our skills. There are often a myriad of paths but it’s a matter of choosing the right one.

Our Seeding the Future program aims to help guide early-career conservationists through these important decisions. The program supports participants working in a range of fields in the conservation sector, from data spatial analysis to invasive species management.

When Nick Outram was coming to the end of his degree, he was seeking a position that aligned with his values.

“I did a mix of environmental science, economics and maths,” says Nick. “At uni, I saw somebody speak about how all these types of skills can have a lot of purpose in solving environmental problems that are quite complex. That was the value proposition I needed.”

With the support of the Seeding the Future program, Nick is now a Data Intern for Bush Heritage’s Strategy and Growth Team.

“It involves a lot of spatial data. I do assessments of agricultural sites before ecologists go and assess them in person. That way the ecologists can focus more on the ecological questions rather than all the data wrangling. We try to figure out what the environment would have naturally looked like prior to settlement, what type of vegetation would have been there.”

For Angela Recalde-Salas, it was more a question of what area of the conservation sector she would find herself in.

“Since I was 12, I wanted to work with marine mammals. That was my dream,” says Angela. “When I did my PhD I was lucky that I was collaborating with a lab at the University of Queensland that did terrestrial and marine research. It was then that I realised that I’m not fussed about whether my work is on terrestrial or marine mammals, whether bandicoots or whales, as long as it has that conservation outcome.” 

She’s now employed full-time with Bush Heritage as a Regional Quantitative Ecologist and her days are spent answering various complex conservation questions depending on the needs of her land manager and ecologist colleagues.  

“For example, if we are planning to install motion sensor cameras as a monitoring tool for feral cats then we need certain information to know where to put those devices. I analyze the data in a way that allows me to advise the managers and ecologists and say ‘This is what the data is telling me’ and combine that with their knowledge to achieve our conservation outcomes.” 

Stephen Kearney, Bush Heritage’s Ecologist for Central Queensland, started as intern with Bush Heritage at 28 years old.

“I worked for 10 years in construction. I got sick of that and I reflected on what job do I want to do for the rest of my life. That was when I started studying environmental management.”

Before long, Stephen found himself on Bush Heritage’s Pullen Pullen Reserve, Maiawali Country, in western Queensland studying the Night Parrot.

“I started doing a PhD at the University of Queensland in 2016. Pullen Pullen is an amazing landscape, beautiful semi-arid plains and spinifex that stretches for miles and miles. Towards the end of my PhD, there was a few jobs at Bush Heritage that were coming up and I was lucky enough to get a position.”

Nick, Angela and Stephen now spend their days applying their scientific expertise to conservation projects with the aim of returning the Australian bush to good health.

Where will science take you? Learn more about our Seeding the Future program.

Bush Heritage gratefully acknowledges the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation for their core support to establish the Seeding the Future program. Angela’s internship was supported by LinkedIn and Stephen’s by the Erica Foundation. Nick’s internship is supported by Kerry Landman.