The Volunteering Epidemic

In today’s episode, we tackle a problem every young conservationist faces in their career: unpaid labor and volunteer “internships.” We discuss why unpaid labor is more and more anachronistic in a time of student loans and economic hardship for young professionals, and how failing to pay your field assistants compromises the quality of their work and your project.

Sources & Links:
Read today's featured news articles:
On shearwaters and petrels in Hawaii:
http://wildlife.org/unseen-for-300-years-endangered-seabirds-heard-on-oahu/?fbclid=IwAR3hOPJSOg3xzWxlg01KnnEGSIlslw9a6aZ3xJO5dgKcx2jCJn6M3EC-bxE

On another seizure of smuggled pangolin scales and elephant tusks:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47088694?fbclid=IwAR0wX0KBwWhiyKHYy27pnQsb20mlj43BoijMMCWBQshh8wkcqXrRcKjoMLM

Read the Mongabay article covering today's topic with some real-world examples: https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/a-rich-persons-profession-young-conservationists-struggle-to-make-it/?fbclid=IwAR2sU1-THn2sx717n9qW6_PKhh_f18IxE8bDnK3uv43vhDuofyaIWDVDgkg

And a thought-provoking blog post on the troubling trend of so-called researchers disguising tourism as conservation: http://www.jamesborrell.com/why-volunteering-with-animals-does-nothing-for-conservation/?fbclid=IwAR3_QbDe0LZVz_iaZmiVxvCO9YNpWhJAqt0HglkwhZLhqZ1yNWzfzVI_68o

Find us on Facebook and Instagram @ Conservation Chronicles. Our email address is conservationchronicles@gmail.com, and our show’s webpage can be found at conservationchronicles.podbean.com.
Theme Song: Epic Cinematic by Scott Holmes / https://scottholmesmusic.com