September 6th 2023

2nd Annual Young Conservation Leaders Award Winners Announced

We are excited to announce the second three recipients of our new Young Conservation Leaders Award.
The Young Conservation Leaders award aims to support the growth of a new generation of conservation leaders by providing a one-off financial grant to help enable young people to take up learning and development opportunities irrespective of their financial circumstances.  The scheme seeks to support candidates with a demonstrable track-record of academic excellence and leadership in the field of conservation at Masters level or above.
For this year we have once again partnered with Exeter University’s Marine Environmental Management and Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation MSc programmes.
“With world oceans now massively degraded by human impacts, MSc graduates in subjects like “Marine Environmental Management” or “Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation” are required to help address the problems involved. To achieve a Young Conservation Leaders Award, the recipients have shown exceptional drive for conservation work though volunteering and all intend to use their prize money to pursue more of this. As skills and knowledge from an MSc need application practise, the opportunity to gain experience from further volunteering is career enhancing”.  Dr. Julie Hawkins, Senior Lecturer in Marine Environmental Management, Exeter University.
YCLA 2023 Winners:
Ben Haden
Ben is doing Exeter’s MSc in Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation and after graduating wants to work within communities at grass roots level to help protect marine wildlife. He intends to use his award from TCF to support himself during a voluntary internship with the Gweek Seal Sanctuary where he will assist in caring for injured seals. This will build on ecological work Ben has done on seals through the British Divers marine Life Rescue.
Chloe McLanachan
Chloe is currently doing Exeter’s MSc in Marine Environmental Management and her career goal is to work on the front line of marine protection efforts. Volunteering done by Chloe includes participation in beach clean-ups with the Marine Conservation Society, working at Anglesey sea zoo and Llandudno owl conservation/rehabilitation centre and helping look after sick or injured seals and cetaceans off the coast of Norfolk and Cornwall. She is a board member of the Marine Conservation for Norfolk Action and has organised and delivered courses on how to identify cetaceans.
Chloe intends to use her award from TCF to fund a month’s trip to the Bimini Shark Lab in The Bahamas where she will assist with ongoing research work into shark behaviour and ecology.
Poppy Tully
Poppy is currently doing Exeter’s MSc in Marine Environmental Management and after graduating will start work within a rapid response team that operate worldwide to clean up large oil spills. Volunteering done by Poppy includes organizing and participating in beach clean-ups, plus working for the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, National Lobster Hatchery, and Game and Wildlife Trust. For the latter she helped tag salmonids and record scientific information about them.
Poppy intends to use her award from TCF to do Seasearch survey training and seal identification courses so she can continue to stay involved with scientific research.
“I am delighted that we are working with Exeter University again to present more Young Conservation Leaders Awards.  Since last year we have learned yet more about the environmental issues facing our planet.  We know that places like Exeter are full of young people wanting to use their talents to work on a range of environmental projects and so it is great for us to provide some of them with help to develop their skills to benefit them and our future world.   David Shreeve MBE, Founder & Director of The Conservation Foundation.
If you would like to find out more about the Young Conservation Leaders Award or make a donation towards future awards please click on the link below.
YCL AWARD