Wildscreen Festival Botswana Full Programme Announced
Wildscreen has today revealed the full programme for its highly anticipated Wildscreen Festival Botswana, taking …
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WildPhotos is back…and this time in London!
WildPhotos, the one-day nature photography symposium, created in partnership by Wildscreen and Wildlife Photographer of …
Wildscreen Launches New Industry Summit to Shape the Future of Wildlife Storytelling
Wildscreen has announced the launch of its inaugural edition of the Wildscreen Industry Summit, a new 3-day event designed to help the industry navigate the evolving landscape of natural world storytelling.
Meet Lucy – Our Wildscreen ARK Media Research Intern!
1. Tell us a bit about your role!
I am a Media Research Intern working specifically on the creation of the new Wildscreen ARK platform that is due to launch next year. Much of my day is spent finding media (photos and videos) of the species I am researching at the time. I am also responsible for contacting potential contributors that I have identified as having useful media (or assets, as we call them), and getting permission to use their content on Wildscreen ARK.
2. What’s your background?
I’ve just finished an undergraduate degree in English literature but in the (pandemic-ridden) months before I started my degree, I got really into birdwatching! It was a great way to counteract the incessant online-ness of lockdown, and I’ve never looked back. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after graduating, so I started looking for opportunities to work in the wildlife conservation sector, and that’s how I came across this placement at Wildscreen. Programmes like Springwatch and Planet Earth played a large role in igniting my own interest in wildlife, so I was very excited to find an opportunity to work at a charity committed to engaging people through visual storytelling.
3. What motivates you?
I am highly motivated by making information accessible to everyone. With the climate crisis intensifying by the day, I think it is imperative that the industry actively works to break down barriers to natural world education, because it is through those learning opportunities and experiences that people fall in love with nature and feel motivated to preserve it. The Wildscreen ARK project that I am working on is being specifically designed to encourage self-directed learning, (i.e. no knowledgeable adult required to learn from), which I hope will contribute towards democratising access to wildlife education for young people.
4. If you could change one thing about the natural history industry, what would it be?
My first thought when I saw this question was that I’m not sure I have a very good grasp on what the natural history industry is, or exactly what happens in it, so I guess that is what I would change! I think there could be much more transparency around what happens, how to get in, and what career development might look like in the industry. De-mystifying the whole sector is crucial to ensuring a wide range of people are represented in it, and a greater diversity of people can only be a good thing when it comes to thinking about new initiatives to engage the public.
5. What’s your favourite story from nature?
My favourite (recurring) story from nature is definitely the plight of the smaller birds they have live nest cameras on in Springwatch! Much as it hurts to see a brood of chicks systematically devoured by a clever Corvid, I enjoy rooting for them and learning about all the different ways they protect their nests.
6. Describe working for Wildscreen in three words!
Fun, interesting, rewarding.
7. If you could turn into any animal for a day, what would you be and why?
If I could turn into any animal for a day, I would be a peregrine falcon. I’ve always wanted to beable to fly, and if I’m going to fly it might as well be as the fastest bird in the world.
