Our planet is facing unprecedented environmental challenges with the dual biodiversity and climate crises. Starting a career in ecology has never been easy, and with the environment sector being the second-least diverse in the UK it is particularly a challenge if you are from a low-income background or under-represented group. We need the next generation of ecologists to provide solutions to the global challenges we are facing and it is critical that these are founded in diverse perspectives.

The British Ecological Society work actively to lower the barriers faced by individuals from low opportunity backgrounds. We have successfully supported hundreds of developing ecologists to date with our education programmes. Through these programmes, we aim to build a community of ecologists who have had support in their career development, and in turn are able to support others who face or have faced similar barriers to create an accessible, inclusive, and diverse ecological sector.