From odd jobs picking up seaweed and counting Lego bricks, to setting up his own business, and then running a conservation charity and two zoos, this episode covers a lot of ground talking to our CEO Dennis Flynn.

So who is Dennis? 

Dennis’ first 'career' was as an officer in the British Army with a focus on international crisis management and anti-operations. He was awarded the OBE for distinguished operational leadership. After his military career Dennis set up a consulting firm that provided crisis management and resilience services to top-tier companies and government agencies around the globe. In the private sector he directed consulting teams for global clients including; Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, Rothschild, Virgin Money and Zurich Financial Services, to name a few. 

In 2015 Dennis exited the consulting firm to begin a full-time academic and research programme to better understand why, in challenging conditions, some people and teams appear more resilient. He holds an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology. Positive psychology is the science of the conditions, behaviours and processes that contribute to the flourishing and resilience of people, groups, and institutions.

Outside work his interests include trekking in remote hill areas. In 2017 he successfully completed a 13-day, 300km coast-to-coast self-supported challenge trek across the Scottish Highlands.. Dennis is also a keen downhill skier, an activity in which he has more enthusiasm than skill.

As you can probably tell, we only cover a brief part of a storied career. You'll have to let us know if you want to hear more from our CEO Dennis Flynn in future episodes. 

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

Support us through our Amazon Wishlists:

Paignton Zoo: https://amzn.to/327HJeb

Newquay Zoo: https://amzn.to/3tDeWty

Modern zoos are all about conservation. Here at Wild Planet Trust we run two zoo sites Paignton Zoo and Newquay Zoo, but we also run and look after other conservation projects both overseas and here in the UK. In this episode of the podcast Jo and Ollie are chatting to Dr Andrew Bowkett and Dr Tracey Hamston the people in charge of our conservation projects. 

Dr Andrew Bowkett, is the Trust's Conservation Planning and Partnerships Manager, and at the time of releasing this podcast he is over in Nigeria having meetings about our conservation project with our partners there in the Omo Forest reserve. In this instalment we are focusing on how he has come to do what he does and we touch on some of our overseas projects through our discussion. For more details about our overseas conservation projects take a look at this page on the Trust's website: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/wild-conservation/ 

Dr Tracey Hamston, is the Trust's Conservation Officer, she looks after our conservation projects here in the UK. Of note are a series of native species reintroduction programs including the plants strapwort and sorbus, white-clawed crayfish and hazel dormice. She also oversees our marine conservation efforts across Torbay, protecting our important seagrass beds, as well as Slapton Ley a national nature reserve in South Devon. You can find more detail on our UK projects here: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/wild-conservation/ 

In this episode we barely scratch the surface of the work that these two do, so be sure to tune in for potential further updates from Andy and Tracey in the future.

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

Support us through our Amazon Wishlists:

Paignton Zoo: https://amzn.to/327HJeb

Newquay Zoo: https://amzn.to/3tDeWty

In a Zoo you need a curator, they're the person in charge of what animals the zoo works with. At Wild Planet Trust we have a curator for each animal department, Mammals, Birds and Lower Vertebrate and Invertebrates (LVI). In this Episode of 'So You Want To Work In A Zoo?' Matt and Ollie are chatting to John Meek, the person in charge of our LVI department.  

Previously John was a keeper, deciding on that career when he was only 8 years old, a head keeper and even curator at Newquay Zoo before he started looking after LVI across both Trust Zoos, Newquay and Paignton. In the discussion, they touch on moving animals, collection planning, conservation projects, returning animals to their country of origin and the classic question... What's you favourite animal?

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

Support us through our Amazon Wishlists:

Paignton Zoo: https://amzn.to/327HJeb

Newquay Zoo: https://amzn.to/3tDeWty

A zoo cannot run without a lot of work behind the scenes, in this episode, we're going to hear from people with jobs at the zoo you may not have expected. 

Sarah Lavin, is our zoological registrar, she coordinates local, national and international animals moves between our zoos and other zoos around the world. This is a truly special job as there is no way you could run a zoo without animals moves.

Dr. Holly Farmer, is the Trust's Research Manager, she manages the students, lecturers and research that is an essential part of zoo day to day business. If we didn't do research or education we wouldn't have a zoo licence. 

Kerry Willis, is one of our talented graphic designers, within the Trust's wider creative team. All of those pretty animal ID's, posters, leaflets and guidebooks need to look good so you will interact with, or, buy them so we can continue to operate and ultimately help halt species decline. 

Have you ever wanted to know what our zoo veterinary team get up to, how to become a vet or vet nurse and what those jobs are like? Well here's your chance! In this episode of "So You Want To Work In A Zoo?" we're talking to two members of the vet team Rebecca, one of our veterinary officers, and Kelly, a vet nurse. Both are based at Paignton Zoo and we're finding out what are the highs and lows of being a vet or vet nurse.

As you can imagine, working within the veterinary space can be very demanding and rewarding at the same time. You can learn more about this and more on what our vets do in other videos on our YouTube channel 

here: https://youtu.be/EcUmsYQqXhs 

and here: https://youtu.be/E3NAM6cuJvE 

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust:

https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

In this episode Matt and Ollie will be talking to Steve Nash, the head of department for Campaigns And Programs for Wild Planet trust. Steve is responsible for overseeing a number of teams, including: 

Steve was previously a zoo keeper, and went on to teach zoo keepers how to be zoo keepers at Sparsholt College. Before that though, Steve made sure the your cheese and onion crisps were cheese and onion-ey enough, made sure your supermarket sandwiches were safe and very briefly worked in an undertakers office.

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

Support us through our Amazon Wishlists:

Paignton Zoo: https://amzn.to/327HJeb

Newquay Zoo: https://amzn.to/3tDeWty

For this episode we’re pleased to welcome two of our gardeners.

I am probably going to be told off for calling Catherine and Jay gardeners: they are from our botanics team. As well as being a zoo, Paignton Zoo is also a registered botanical garden, with an amazing collection of plants from all over the world.. In these podcasts, we have been talking about careers here at the Wild Planet Trust, and we can’t ignore the people who keep the zoo looking amazing, and ensure that when we talk about rainforests, we have one to show.

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust:

https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

Dr. Harry Hilser is the the Programme Director for Selamatkan Yaki (SY), a conservation programme based in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. SY protects the habitat and remaining populations of the Critically Endangered Sulawesi crested black macaque (Macaca nigra), whilst supporting local initiatives, developing alternatives to hunting and capacity building for local communities.  

You find out more about Selamatkan Yaki here: 

https://www.selamatkanyaki.ngo/ 

https://bit.ly/3j7lCcM   

Harry is also the Co-Founder of Lestari Environmental Education Consultancy. Lestari facilitates the transformation of communities and society, working within the social and environmental sciences to combine education and conservation practice with sustainability, behaviour change, and principles of nature connection. They collaborate with NGO’s, universities, governments and businesses to deliver high-impact projects and implement innovative strategies for change.   

For more on Lestari, check out their website: https://lestari.org/   

Visit Our Zoos: 

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/ 

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/   

Wild Planet Trust: 

https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

This week is International Careers Week, so in this episode we're bringing you not one, not two careers, but three! 

In this episode, Matt and Ollie are talking to three members of our keeper teams, one from each keeper section; mammals, Liam; birds, Rhianna; and LVI (Lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates), Tom. We will be asking them how they came to work as keepers, find out what is the best and worst parts of their job, and talk about some of sacrifices that keepers make to pursue their careers - some of the answers may surprise you.

Visit Our Zoos:

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/

Wild Planet Trust: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/

Support us through our Amazon Wishlists:

Paignton Zoo: https://amzn.to/327HJeb

Newquay Zoo: https://amzn.to/3tDeWty

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022, and who better to talk to than the Chief Science Officer of Wild Planet Trust?!  

In this episode Jo and Ollie will be talking to Dr. Kirsten Pullen, the Chief Science Officer of Wild Planet Trust. Kirsten was previously the Director of BIAZA (that's the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria), as well as a Research Officer at Paignton Zoo, and the Head of Primates at Bristol Zoo. That's certainly a storied career from zoo keeper to influencing policy for zoo across the UK!  

Kirsten went from A levels, to Applied Biology at Greenwich University, before going on to her MSc in Ecology at Bangor University. After studying at degree level Kirsten did City and Guilds qualification - an earlier version of the DMZAA (Diploma in Management of Zoo and Aquarium Animals), while zoo keeping. Then to cap that all off she finished her PhD in Animal Behaviour while at Paignton Zoo.

Visit Our Zoos: 

https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/ 

https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/ 

Wild Planet Trust: https://www.wildplanettrust.org.uk/   

Support us through our Amazon Wishlists: 

Paignton Zoo: https://amzn.to/327HJeb  

Newquay Zoo: https://amzn.to/3tDeWty