What Do Careers with Endangered Species Look Like?

Whenever I talk to someone who wants my help, I always ask them “What is your ultimate career goal?” and frequently the answer is “something with endangered species.

We’ve all seen the videos of scientists opening up a cage with a wolf inside, and it sprinting out of it to return to the wild where it belongs, or some variation of that with another species. These videos are so inspiring and uplifting – they make us feel so good and like there is hope for conservation. But there’s a lot of work that goes into those few moments of release that you don’t see. 

We go into this career because we love wildlife, and much of our wildlife is in crisis, so it makes sense that so many people want to do endangered species work – they want to make a difference and have an impact. But what does it really entail? What does it look like? 

On this week’s podcast, I talk about what it’s like to work in careers with endangered species. I realize this is a GIGANTIC topic and there’s no way that I could cover it all in one podcast, but here I give you a taste of what some of those careers look like. 

I especially focus on reintroductions, not because this is the majority of endangered species careers, but because so many of people want to go into and are fascinated by these careers. 

If you’ve ever wanted to work with endangered species or are curious about all of the science and prep work that goes into reintroductions, today I am peeling back the curtain to show you what that research is really like.