HOW TO WORK WITH WILDLIFE | my zoology, conservation, ecotourism and wildlife filmmaking career

how to work with wildlife - sharing my zoology, conservation, ecotourism and wildlife filmmaking career in New Zealand! I know it can be really tough finding work in these fields, so I wanted to share what I studied at university, and my career path so far to getting fulfilling work in these areas. While I'm no expert and still consider myself to be somewhat at the beginning of my career, I hope that hearing my experiences will help anyone looking to work with wildlife!

#workingwithwildlife #zoology #conservation #newzealand #outdoorswithsum
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INSTAGRAM @outdoorswithsum
music via epidemic sound
Ring Wear Saga - Dusty Decks

audio via freesound
InspectorJ - Pop, Low, A (H1).wav
joebro - mouse_clicks
mattleshuck - cartoon wink sparkle

images via creative commons
Red-webbed Tree Frogs, Rhacophorus rhodopus, amplexus in Kaeng Krachan
- tontantravel
CSIRO ScienceImage 3828 Tropical rainforest near Cairns QLD.jpg - Willem van Aken, CSIRO
serengeti - Marc Veraart
Pebble beach - prikkprikkprikk

[JJEmersonWildlife]

Great video mate!! Such a tough field to crack into, but when you do.... it's so bloody worth it!! Great job, sharing your journey with others!! I reckon I might take a bit of inspiration from this video! 😉

[peaceserafino]

This is super helpful because I'm homeschooled which means that type of information is harder to come by for me. Super super helpful. Many thanks.

[TheWildlifeBrothers]

Hearing more about your work and career was really cool, and as someone who is currently pursuing a zoology undergrad degree I really appreciate all of your advice! You have been able to work with so many cool species, I really hope to have experiences like those! Thanks for making this video Summer, I will be coming back to it I’m sure!
- Harrison and Evan

[unchaindglory]

Loved that vid, very insightful. Love your cheery attitude too ^^
I'm gonna start my first year of college soon and I hope it will work out. Peace out

[kinageka]

Great video thanks ! Starting to looking for job in conservation myself ... quite afraid about the "need a degree part" ahah

[shivangchaturvedic]

I am from India and intrested in wildlife, thanks for such a great information about your jurney, keep it up🙂

[MisguideddGhost]

I know this was made 2 years ago but I really love this video so much! Thank you for making it! I am aspiring to be a zoologist and am honestly really lost on how to begin, but this video helped so much! I also really love your personality you seem so excited, genuine and passionate through how you talk about your work and I really would love to be like you in the future! 🫶🏻

[amsterdan]

Until the 'childhood' part was very similar to mine! Loved all animals and had lots of interest in them since always, and decided to be a "Capybara biologist" at age 8~. I grew up and kept the love for nature and animals, but other aspects of life influenced more and I became a Software Engineer (a animal loving software engineer)

Thanks for creating great content like this! For future zoologists and people just interested in this like me :D

[chevycarroll]

i didnt know you could do natural history wildlife filmmaking!!! you destabilised my plans haha

[kdoudhy]

I am from India and intrested in wildlife, thanks for such a great information about your jurney, keep it up

[aussiereptilesandherping]

I was really lucky to be able to volunteer with some university groups as a young teenager (12-13ish) surveying endangered lizards, then I did stuff when I was a little bit older with revegetation. Doing stuff young with professional adults was one of the best choices i’ve ever made as it has opened up innumerable doors in bush reveg, captive breeding and herpetology, my three main current interests.

[TitokiExtract]

I can’t wait to watch your productions.

[JujuAllsorts]

Hi Summer, thanks so much for this informative video, I really liked hearing how you got to where you are now!! I'm studying ecology and conservation at the age of 30 after 8 years of doing a job I didn't feel passionate about. My dream is to move to NZ and get a job in conservation (from Australia), but knowing how competitive this field is, I feel like I'm at a slight disadvantage compared to others who studied locally and had the opportunity to make connections. It's all a bit overwhelming, but I'm going to try my best anyway 😊 Anyway, I'm so glad I found your channel, can't wait to binge watch all your videos after my exams!!

[TeTaongaKorora]

Brilliant video and not at all jealous of the breadth of your species experience! Will have to show one of my students who is thinking of following a zoology career

For anyone reading, my route to current career:
After about 2 months of sitting at home, waddled out to sea
Ate fush, squid, and salps. Yummy
Got very kotakataka
Waddled back on land
Rinsed and repeated

[solarpunkalana]

Amazing video! I’m an ecology and conservation biology student from the UK.

[PENGAmurungu]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! What did you find was the best way to find volunteering opportunities?
I did a couple of years of science comms as an undergraduate degree but although I enjoyed the content and thought it was super important I wasn't sure I wanted a job in the field. I took a year off to reassess and now I'm just about to finish my first semester of environmental science! I'm also really excited because I'm just about to head to far north Queensland for a month as a volunteer research assistant for a PhD candidate studying northern quolls!! It'll be my first taste of actual field work so I'm super stoked

[Ecotasia]

Great advice, Would love to hear about you film making degree.
-JJ

[emilyelizabeth]

Omg I feel the same way about wanting to be a scientist or wanting to be the person filming the scientist!! What school did you complete your masters at?

[TheGBZard]

So Im in high school still and im a bit indecisive between doing zoology and paleontology, are these skills transferable between both fields. Im guessing some of them are but I want to make sure to be safe.

[lady_tarra]

Hey... Do you still read comments? What do you think about a focus on ecology instead of zoology?