What does a ecologist do?
You survey a piece of land before it is built on, and you are the person who says whether what is living there stops the build.
Also called: ecological consultant, wildlife surveyor, habitat specialist.
A day looks like
- 1You are out at dusk with a bat detector, or at four in the morning for breeding birds, because that is when the survey is valid.
- 2You walk a site slowly, looking for droppings, runs, roosts and the plants that tell you what the ground is.
- 3You write a report that a developer is paying for and that may cost them a great deal of money.
- 4You design a mitigation — a bat loft, a newt fence, a different phasing — that lets the scheme happen without the harm.
Hardest part
The person paying you wants a particular answer. Your name and your licence are on the report, and the whole value of an ecologist is that the answer does not depend on who is paying.
Best part
Finding a way for the scheme to go ahead that leaves the site better than it was — which is much more common than either side expects.
How you actually become a ecologist
- At schoolA biology or ecology degree, and a lot of volunteering to get species experience.
- TrainingProtected species survey licences, each earned separately with logged experience.
- How longThree years for the degree, then two or three to hold your own licences.
- Your first jobGraduate ecologist — carrying kit, doing surveys, writing sections of somebody else's report.
Frequently asked questions
- Do ecologists stop building work?
- Rarely outright. Most of the job is finding a way for a scheme to proceed with mitigation — different timing, a bat loft, a fenced-off area. Outright refusals happen where something legally protected cannot be worked around.
- Why does the time of year matter so much?
- Because species are only detectable in their seasons. Bats are surveyed in summer at dusk, newts in spring, breeding birds in the nesting season. A survey outside the window cannot support a conclusion.
- Is it a conflict of interest to be paid by the developer?
- It is the central tension of the job, and it is managed through professional registration, survey licences and the fact that a consultant whose findings cannot be relied on is worthless to everyone, including developers.
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