Advice from Dr. Courtney Hughes: Biodiversity and Landscape Specialist
- Jessica Hogan
- Feb 12, 2019
- 5 min read
In this post, I highlight advice given by Dr. Courtney Hughes, a Biodiversity and Landscape Specialist in Peace River, Alberta. She provided some interesting insights into her work, what she loves about it, its greatest challenges, advice for individuals interested in this kind of career path, and advice she wishes she could have given herself earlier. Alternatively, to my other posts which focused on academia, Dr. Hughes provides advice from her applied work within Alberta Environment (AEP) and Park’s
Let's begin...
As I am curious about work outside of a university setting, I decided to interview Dr. Courtney Hughes about her work as Peace Region's Biodiversity and Landscape Specialist in Alberta, Canada. After meeting Dr. Hughes at a conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict in Namibia at the beginning of 2018, I knew that she was someone I wanted to know more about. She is very passionate about her work and when I started my blog she was one of the first people I wanted to speak with. With a BSc in Natural Science from Lakehead University, a MEd in Environmental Education from Lakehead University, and a PhD in Conservation Biology (Social Dimensions) from the University of Alberta, she brings exceptional skills to help solve human-wildlife conflict. Dr. Hughes was also a science teacher which may help explain her excellent ability to capture the attention of audiences when she talks of her work. If you are interested in reading some of her research, visit her on research gate (URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Courtney_Hughes).
Dr. Hughes Work
Dr. Hughes is Peace Region's Biodiversity and Landscape Specialist. She says that her “work includes identification of biodiversity and landscape values, interests and needs (like monitoring or other research) to inform management planning for the department. This includes working with many different interest groups, from land owners to forestry or petroleum industry, to non-governmental organizations, municipal governments, Indigenous Peoples and many more!”
Dr. Hughes background is as a conservation social scientist with expertise in the human dimensions of wildlife research, policy, management and education. She completed her PhD in Conservation Biology (Social Dimensions) from the University of Alberta where she studied the social context of grizzly bear recovery in Alberta, Canada. In 2018, Hughes & Nielsen published the article "Bear are only the Lightning Rod: Ongoing Acrimony in Alberta’s Grizzly Bear Recovery" which highlights the importance of including people in grizzly bear recovery.
"Ultimately, involving the people who are affected by policy in decision-making can enable opportunities to assert what is important to them and why, and can work to build better human-human relationships, which we suggest are necessary to improve proclivity to support conservation action" (Hughes & Nielsen, 2018).
Hughes, C., & Nielsen, S.E. (2018). Bear are only the Lightning Rod: Ongoing Acrimony in Alberta’s Grizzly Bear Recovery. Society & Natural Resources, DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2018.1502853
What do you love and what are the challenges of being a Biodiversity and Landscape Specialist?
Here are some of her examples of things she loves:
1. The Variety!
Dr. Hughes loves that she often works on a variety of projects “from grizzly bears to bats, recreational land use to forestry”.
2. Working With Different Interest Groups
She also loves that she “work[s] with a variety of interest groups, from farmers or ranchers and other landowners, to recreationalists, NGOs, industry, other government agencies, and Indigenous Peoples". She says that "it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn from others and share what you know, find common ground and solutions.”
The greatest challenge:
1. The Variety (the same as what she loves)
Dr. Hughes states that “the greatest challenge is often the same as what I love - the variety of the job and how to best find solutions to complex questions or problems.”
When did you decide you wanted to work in your field and why?
Dr. Hughes says that “I’ve been told I have a "Franken-degree" and its pretty true. From science to education to (social) science, I like the challenge of learning new things, trying out new things, so this path seems like a natural progression for me.” Beginning as a science teacher, she often focused her lesson plans on teaching through outdoor education. She “[has] always loved wildlife, learning from other people, and finding collaborative ways to solve problems”. Not only has her current career path allowed her to learn a lot, it has also provided her with the opportunity to share what she knows. She likes that she is able to apply her skills and experience in education, along with social science and conservation biology in her daily life!
Would you say there was one specific thing/person/personal attitude/ambition that brought you to where you are now?
She says that “I don't think there's just one thing. However, one theme that is constant is my desire and drive to encourage people to get outside, experience the wonders of wildlife, and foster a connection between people and nature. I think it’s pretty powerful when people view themselves as stewards of the land and wildlife, and take steps to make sure we keep ecosystems and wildlife populations healthy now and into the future”.
What piece of advice would you give someone who is interested in pursuing something similar? Are there certain skills, professional development, volunteering experience, etc. that you believe are essential to getting employed in this field?
Dr. Hughes suggests three important categories in which to further develop your experience and abilities: Various skills, Working with people/communication, and Volunteering.
1. Various Skills
Dr. Hughes explains that Peace Region's Biodiversity and Landscape Specialist “entails a lot of collaboration, planning, and coordinating, so ensuring you have really good communication skills, project and budget management, organizational skills, and of course the technical aspects (or ability and drive to learn new things as required)”.
2. Working with People/Communication
Dr. Hughes says that “if you have a degree in conservation biology, I suggest getting some people skills experience, as 80% of conservation is about people - working with them, learning to listen and understand values, interests and concerns, honing communication techniques and knowing what works or doesn't, and how to bring all that together in a project”.
3. Volunteering
Dr. Hughes suggests volunteering as an important element in skill building. She says that "I volunteer a lot on many different things in my community and internationally, as I want to experience many things and learn as much as I can, to see what can apply in my day to day job".
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice to help with your career ambitions what would it be?
Dr. Hughes mentioned that maybe she would “do more stats…or maybe GIS! These are technical skills [she]'d like to be much better at, but there's only so much time in a day. And working with these experts is a fun part of my job, as [she does] glean a little from them ;)”.
Want to learn more about the work Dr. Hughes does with Grizzly Bears? Here is a great video demonstrating the amazing initiative happening between various interest groups that she works with in Alberta.
"We all recognize we all have interests, representing our own organisations or companies that we work for or special groups that we are representing around the table. I think a big part of the success that we've had to date over the four years is acknowledging those special interests and not using them as something to fight over, it's not a conflict." (Hughes, 2018; Working Together for Grizzly Bears in Alberta, Canada).
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Courtney Hughes so much for taking the time to answer all of these questions and sending in her photos. Her answers have already helped me think of ways to improve my skills/experience and will hopefully help someone else who is interested in pursuing a similar field of work.
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