Phoebe Andrews says the work experience she gained from volunteering as a student set her up for a career in animal and biodiversity management.
Phoebe is currently a senior ecologist at Wildlands having joined the Auckland-based office at the start of 2019.
Wildlands is a consultancy with around 40 years of experience in ecology and ecological restoration.
The company provides high quality and cost-effective ecological information, advice, and technical services that enable sustainable management and enhancement of indigenous biodiversity, ecosystems, and resources and result in improved environments.
“I got a job as a field ecologist at Wildlands after completing a Bachelor of Applied Science at Unitec in 2018 and I have worked there ever since,” Ms Andrews says.
“I initially started doing management plans for a lot of our Auckland Reserves as part of the national targeted rates program for Council. And then I did some forest monitoring plots,” she explains.
“From there, I kind of just started working on assessment of effects for resource consent applications, and then I was promoted to Senior Ecologist after a couple of years, so I do a lot more project management.”
In her final year at Unitec, Phoebe did volunteer work with Auckland Council as a ‘Treasure Island Ambassador’ that involved biosecurity advocacy and educating passengers about biosecurity at ferry departures.
Ms Andrews returned to Unitec on Thursday for our Industry Connect Event for the School of Environmental and Animal Sciences held at the Events Kitchen in Te Puna. It was an opportunity to share her experience working at Wildlands and give useful advice to nearly 100 of our EAS ākonga who attended.
“Any kind of volunteer experience that they can get is so valuable on they CV,” she explains.
“It just shows that they’re passionate and they have some skills as well and they can apply themselves.”
Head of School Environmental and Animal Science, Laura Harvey says it was their first Industry Connect Event since the COVID pandemic, and she was pleased with the outcome.
“The event was a great opportunity for our students and industry to connect, and the generosity of our industry partners to attend is great to see,” she explains.
“The volume of conversation indicates the event was a great success and it will now become an annual event on the EAS calendar.”
Industry Engagement Coordinator, Duaa Belgacem described the event as an outstanding success, bringing together eight industry organisations from Animal Management and Welfare, Conservation and Biodiversity Management, and Veterinary Nursing.
“This event provided not only valuable opportunities for potential employment but also a meaningful platform for networking and fostering connections with leading professionals across various sectors,” she explains.
“As the first EAS Connect event since the pandemic, its success was particularly notable. In today’s job market, it’s more important than ever to offer connect events that allow students to engage with industry professionals, helping them navigate their career paths.”
Phoebe loves applying the skills gained at Unitec in her role. Her career has accelerated in the six years since graduating and she enjoys the daily challenges of the job.
Ms Andrews enjoys working in a field that she is deeply passionate about, especially animals, plants and our environment. One of her highlights was spending three weeks on Great Barrier Island and doing Kauri Die-Back sampling.
“Best thing about my job is probably the fieldwork and all the places that I get to go – I’m getting paid to hike, basically,” she laughs.
