I finished my MSc in September 2006 and moved to Bristol in hopes of applying my newfound skills and knowledge in the bourgeoning south-west environmental sector. Despite my best efforts, three months later I found myself still working in a call centre during the day. In the evenings, I volunteered with the Schumacher Society as a research assistant on a local peak oil impact project. Still, I had the good fortune to hook up with fellow CHE student Chris [Adams], spending many evenings refining our human ecology perspectives to our Bristolian reality over pints of local organic cider.

I finally moved to London after accepting a job with the prominent homeless charity Crisis.  I worked as as head of major gifts development, and learned about the appalling absence of social justice for single homeless people in the UK. 

Six formative months later, fortune came knocking. Suddenly I found myself working for Friends of the Earth (FOE), described by the Guardian as the UK’s most effective environmental organisation.  I was hired in a dual role: executive assistant to Tony Juniper, and team leader for the organisational coordination team.

My role is very diverse, involving intense engagement with external and internal parts of the organisation. A “typical” day can involve writing campaign briefs for Tony’s interview on Radio 4, coordinating capacity-building efforts within the FOE International network, and ensuring effective and democratic internal communication amongst the channels coordinated by my team.

The wonderful combination of working for one of my eco-heroes and serving an organisation at the cutting edge of spreading environmental solutions makes me pinch myself almost daily – and long may that continue. My hope is to actively contribute to FOE’s future success, such as persuading the UK Government to incorporate an annual reduction of CO2 emissions in the revised Climate Change Bill.

Although less than two months into my journey, I believe that I am part of an organisation embracing a head, hand, heart approach in its science-based policy formulation, while offering workable and innovative solutions for public audiences to embrace.

My colleagues see my human ecology background as a clear asset, providing new perspectives and skills to our rich organisational environment. I hope that my experience will encourage existing students to move boldly into the working world, and demonstrate the value of human ecology to potential students.