Progress

Johnathon Miller-McCall grew up in South London, seemingly an unpromising location for wildlife observation and a career as a conservationist, science communicator and storyteller.

Yet, Johnathon reveals, there are more than 14,000 species in the city, and it’s one of the world’s largest urban forests – you just need to know where to look.

Now Johnathan wears three hats, working as a comms and engagement officer for Synchronicity Earth, as a presenter and content executive for Earth Minutes and creating content for his own feeds.

So how does a shy boy go from keeping his (slightly uncool) interests to himself at school to finding a course that suits his knowledge and satisfying his calling to spread a love of nature, especially when there was little guidance at school and nobody like him on television?

Johnathon explains how he forged his own career path as a nature nerd, rather than in finance, how he found a community at London Wildlife Trust (LWT) and what keeps him resilient.

Mentioned in this podcast

Synchronicity Earth

Earth Minutes

Natural History Museum Generation Hope

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan – 10 year water clean-up plan

London Wildlife Trust

Flock Together

Johnathon Miller-McCall Linktree (J Talks Nature)

Hamza Yassin Photography

You might also like to listen to:

Sarah Kessell, CEO of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales S1 E5

Stuart Mabbutt, Wildman environmental learning S3 E3

Divya Kumar, Community engagement manager, Earthwatch Europe S4 E4

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible jobs, courses or activities and asks for real-world insights into the pathways and careers that led to them.

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Email: [email protected]

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Connor Cashell combines his socially responsible and ethical values with a push for sustainability and a job campaigning for Cycling UK.

After university Connor worked in Belgium where he facilitated meetings between European leaders and the people who really understood what was going on in exploited mining communities, particularly in South America.

From there, it wasn’t a huge step to move to Peru to work for a partner organisation, Grufides, among the people being affected by the mining.

When Connor returned to England, he found his role at Cycling UK, where he supports and connects campaigning groups seeking to improve cycle networks in the UK. That includes making cycling more child- and woman-friendly, improving cycle paths and lobbying for better cycling facilities, such as improved lighting and safer parking.

Connor shares good advice about avoiding overwhelm at university, and insights into how he found his role at Cycling UK – searching for an organisation that matched his values was key. 

Mentioned in this podcast

Links

Cycling UK

My Ride. Our right.

CATAPA

Grufides

University of Sheffield

Charity Job (job board)

You might like to listen to:

Don Weatherbee CEO of RegenX Tech, S3 E7

Jo Faulkner-Harvey Head of income generation at Shakespeare Hospice S3 E5

Duncan Goose founder of Global Ethics and One Water S1 E10

Lydia Carrington Sustainability manager, Edgbaston cricket stadium S2 E1

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible jobs, courses or activities and asks for real-world insights into the pathways and careers that led to them. 

Subscribe and find out how they got there and how you can too.

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Email: [email protected]

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's no doubt that Dr Fernanda da Silva Tatley's scientific career has been one of purpose. A medical molecular microbiologist, she’s researched tuberculosis (TB), listeria and cancer, working with Glaxo Wellcome, then enabled other researchers as an account manager for Roche Diagnostics. 

Delve a little deeper and there’s a tale of a thwarted career however – she’d have liked to be an archaeologist but her father wanted her to go into medicine, so she compromised and studied sciences.

Alongside her career path, Fernanda has embraced many different experiences and roles, from Reiki Master and reconnective healing practitioner, to orienteer and photographic model.

The inspiration behind Fernanda’s business actually started in the 1980s and was parked.

Find out what took Fernanda so long to follow her dream, and why.

Listen out for Fernanda’s insights into managing parental expectations, changing career and why freeing your mind can open up a wealth of possibilities and opportunities.

Read more:

Mentioned in this podcast

Links

Azurlis 

Anita Roddick (Wikipedia entry)

University of Otago, New Zealand

University of Cape Town, South Africa

You might also like to listen to:

Sarah Ashworth, Researcher developer at University of Manchester S1 E11

Dr Bushra Schuitemaker, Zoologist, microbiologist and award winning communicator S4 E2

Duncan Goose, Founder of Global Ethics and One Water S1 E10

Maddie Booth, Sustainability consultant, educator and speaker S4 E6

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible careers, courses and activities and asks for real-world insights into the paths and decisions that led to them.

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Email: [email protected]

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Still in his early twenties Matthew Payne parked his career plans and degree course to work for a tech start-up to try, as he puts it, to fix the National Health Service. 

Matthew was due to finish his final undergraduate year and had ticked all the boxes to make himself a good candidate for a well-paid traineeship in corporate law.

So what drives a person to work in a tech start-up facing such a tricky task – risky even if you believe in its products, the founders and can see that it might be going places?

The answer, in part, lies in Matthew’s strong ethical values, his sense of social responsibility and his push for sustainability.

With more than 1000+ GP practices in England signed up for Healthtech-1’s support, the firm is already making a difference and is looking to expand and improve its offerings.

Listen to the podcast to hear Matthew’s thoughts on taking on voluntary roles, the benefits of part-time work and of getting involved in new things at university. He runs through ideas for what might happen later in his career and emphasises the importance of getting young people's voices into the places that matter. 

Mentioned in this podcast

Links

Healthtech-1

Sustainable Recruitment Alliance

Y Combinator

Science and Tech investment to ignite UK Growth 

Do you need a degree to work in tech? (BBC)

Student Minds

Worcester University

Reading University 

Other episodes you might like to listen to

Laura Yeates and Leora Schlasko – Sustainable recruitment alliance S1 E3

James Adeleke – Founder and CEO of Generation Success. Equality champion S4 E5

Maddie Booth – Sustainability consultant, educator and speaker S4 E6

Stuart Goldsmith – Climate comedian and podcaster S5 E2

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible jobs, courses or activities and asks for real-world insights into the pathways and careers that led to them. 

Subscribe and find out how they got there and how you can too.

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Email: [email protected]

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s funny about climate change, you might think if you spot comedian Stuart Goldsmith’s job title.

The answer is, of course, nothing, but after a long and successful career as a performer and stand-up comedian Stuart found himself wanting to talk about just one thing - climate change.

So how does that pan out when you need to be paid for laughs? And who is in the audience when Stuart is delivering his message?

How do you even start a career like Stuart’s? And if you’re young, how do you sell the idea to your parents and teachers, who might think you should go out and get a ‘proper’ job? 

Stuart answers all these questions and more, plus he explains why he started his podcast interviewing comedians and what to do if you want to have a values-led career.

Mentioned in this podcast

Stuart Goldsmith's website

Stuart Goldsmith on Instagram

The Comedian's Comedian podcast

Glastonbury 2025 Instagram

BBC News: The lack of working class actors

Atomic Habits - James Clear

You might also enjoy listening to:

Shaheer Hafeez, Director of ESG and climate risk at KPMG S3 E2

Divya Kumar, Community engagement manager, Earthwatch Europe S4 E4

Jo Faulkner-Harvey, Head of charity fundraising S3 E5

Rachel Warren, Professor of global change and environmental biology S1 E7

Duncan Goose, founder of Global Ethics and One Water S1 E10 and S4 E8

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible jobs, courses or activities and asks for real-world insights into the pathways and careers that led to them.

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Email: [email protected]

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie Goldsbrough is a woodland officer, ecologist, conservationist and bat carer. She’s passionate about the outdoors, something that started in childhood and guided her through university, where she studied for a degree in zoology.

Aware of the masses of plastic tree guards used when planting saplings, which are rarely documented or removed when the trees start growing and which degrade and fragment, Katie founded the Plot That Plastic app. It's something every listener can use to document plastic guards in woodland.

In addition to her passion for trees, Katie has a great fondness for bats and explains that in the UK we have micro-bats, tiny in comparison to the types found elsewhere in the world.

Katie advocates enjoying your job rather than enduring it and explains why recent parenthood has added to her motivation to do her bit for conservation.

Read more here

Mentioned in this podcast

Links

Forest Plastics Working Group (plot that plastic)

Bat Conservation Trust National Bat Helpline

Ranger Katie Instagram 

Essex Wildlife Trust

Anglia Ruskin University Zoology degree

You might also like to read about and listen to:

Dr Bushra Schuitemaker, Zoologist, microbiologist and award winning communicator

S4 E2

Divya Kumar, Community engagement manager, Earthwatch Europe S4 E4

Sarah Kessell, CEO of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales S1 E5

Helen Walsh, designer, writer and conservation sector communications expert S3 E11

Stuart Mabbutt, aka The Wildman – Part 1 S3 E3

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible jobs, courses or activities and asks for real-world insights into the pathways and careers that led to them.

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Email: [email protected]

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duncan Goose, the founder of Global Ethics and the brand One Water, returned to ProGRESS to talk about what has happened in the 12 months since we last spoke, including why he undertook a round Britain road trip to echo the world tour he was on more than 20 years ago that changed his career direction.

Duncan also speaks about tracking down the girl (now woman) who sparked his mission to bring water projects to communities living in extreme poverty around the world, and you can see the story of that in the link below.

One Water gives away its profits to projects that provide clean drinking water to communities. With 5 million lives changed and more standpipes planned for the future, it is definitely a success story.

Read about One Water here and watch the story of 'the girl at the standpipe' here (link to YouTube).

Read more and find extra links on the ProGRESS website show notes page here

Listen to the first episode with Duncan in 2024 here.

Duncan Goose, founder of Global Ethics and One Water S1 E10

You might also like to listen to:

James Adeleke, Generation Success founder, equality champion, social entrepreneur S4 E5

Divya Kumar, Community engagement manager at Earthwatch Europe S4 E4

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible careers, courses and activities and asks for real-world insights into the paths and decisions that led to them.

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Follow ProGRESS on LinkedIn

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Email us: hello [@] mypro-gress.co.uk

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this wide-reaching discussion, ProGRESS's first-ever guest Rae Wilkinson rejoins the podcast to tell Sandra more about her career as an award-winning sustainable landscape and garden designer.

Recording from her studio at the Knepp Estate in Sussex, Rae talks about introducing her clients to sustainable design and the notion of reducing carbon footprint as well as managing the budget when creating a garden for them.

Rae also discusses giving back to the next generation of designers who want to benefit from her wisdom and experience and how much value there is in giving back to your community through volunteering.

Click here to listen to Rae on the first-ever ProGRESS podcast

Rae Wilkinson, award-winning sustainable garden designer S1 E1

Links mentioned in this episode

Rae Wilkinson MSGLD, garden and landscape designer

The Knepp Estate

The Conservation Volunteers

Hear more of our guests talk about their values-led careers. How they got there and how you can too.

Shaheer Hafeez ACA, Director ESG and climate risk KPMG S3 E2

Sarah Kessell, CEO of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales S1 E5

Divya Kumar, Community engagement manager at Earthwatch Europe S4 E4

David Kohnstamm, Chief sustainability officer, Leafcloud S4 E3

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible careers, courses and activities and asks for real-world insights into the paths and decisions that led to them.

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Follow ProGRESS on LinkedIn

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Email us: hello [@] mypro-gress.co.uk

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sustainability consultant and environmental educator Maddie Booth started her first enterprise while at the University of Warwick, where she was studying for a Bachelor of Arts and Science (BASc) in global sustainable development and politics.  

In the spirit of no experience is wasted, Maddie says being an entrepreneur has been the biggest talking point in every job interview she’s had since exiting her business. Having worked in several jobs since graduating, Maddie has just taken up a newly created role as digital learning and development specialist at the Science Based Targets Initiative.

Despite all the success and progress she’s made following her degree, Maddie says if she were 15 now she would consider further education and apprenticeships rather than university. In fact, she is helping her younger brother as he makes course choices.

She urges older generations not to overburden Gen Z with the woes of the world, but is optimistic about their determination to find greener, more ethical, sustainable and socially responsible jobs.

You might also like to listen to:

Shaheer Hafeez , ACA, director of ESG and climate risk at KPMG S3 E2

Divya Kumar, Community engagement manager at Earthwatch Europe S4 E4

Beccy Dickson, Co-founder of Branded Bio and eco-entrepreneur S3 E12

Sarah Daly, Sustainability consultant and climate champion S3 E 1

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible careers, courses and activities and asks for real-world insights into the paths and decisions that led to them.

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Follow ProGRESS on

LinkedIn 

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Email us: hello [@] mypro-gress.co.uk

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Adeleke thought his future lay in football, but a serious injury meant he had to rethink his plans (much to his mum's relief) and study law instead.

In this episode James talks about how meeting a homeless man after the London Riots affected his thinking, what turned his society at law school into the social enterprise Generation Success and why his mum has forgiven him for not following a legal career.

Generation Success empowers young people from all backgrounds across the UK reach their career aspirations, regardless of their circumstances. Hear what James has to say about social mobility, diversity, and inclusion and why his work is more important than ever.

Read more about James's career and find extra links on the ProGRESS website show notes page here

You might like to listen to:

Shaheer Hafeez, ACA, Director of ESG and climate risk at KPMG S3 E2

Duncan Goose, Founder of Global Ethics and One Water S1 E10

Dr Bushra Schuitemaker, Zoologist, microbiologist and award winning communicator S4 E2

Justin Kelly, CEO of Glass Futures, Chair of Sustainable Ventures S4 E1

About ProGRESS:

Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible careers, courses and activities and asks for real-world insights into the paths and decisions that led to them.

Original content © Sandra Kessell 

Original music © Lyze Kessell

Follow ProGRESS on

LinkedIn

Instagram: @progress_green_careers_podcast

Email us: hello [@] mypro-gress.co.uk

Progress's guests talk about their pathways to a career in a values-led job.

We've interviewed all kinds of people in interesting roles.

You'll hear from sustainability consultants and managers, researchers, green and ethical entrepreneurs, environmentalists, ecologists and conservationists plus others working and studying in architecture.

You'll also hear about jobs you may never have known existed, such as green comedians, serious games creators, city planners, garden planners, and green data centre champions.

Subscribe to Progress wherever you usually listen for inspiring stories and insights into brilliant career ideas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.