Case studies: Ranger: Nathan

Nathan works as a ranger (education) for Historic Scotland at the Holyrood Park Education Centre in Edinburgh. After graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in history, he completed a part-time PGCE in Environmental Education at The University of Edinburgh. Nathan has worked for Historic Scotland since 2007...

After graduating from Aberdeen, I worked as a secondary school teaching assistant for 18 months, while studying part time for my PGCE. I also worked as a volunteer at Holyrood, helping with community events. After a season working for a tour guide operator taking groups to the Highlands, I applied to Historic Scotland and began work with them as a ranger in 2007.

I would say both of my subjects, history and environmental education, are very relevant to my job. Holyrood is unusual in that it has both a strong natural and cultural heritage, so knowledge of Scottish history is important. However, within our team, there is a range of specialist areas: everything from botany and archaeology to countryside management and law enforcement.

A working day is usually eight hours long, beginning at 8am and the duties vary depending on the time of year. During the summer months, some evening work is necessary. Duties will include mobile and foot patrols of the park checking on the wildlife, looking out for rock-fall or dealing with excessive litter.

Visiting educational groups might be anything from nursery and school groups to community groups and groups with additional support needs. We lead guided walks between spring and autumn. We also carry out conservation surveys and there is always administration to catch up on. 

I love working in the environmental sector both aesthetically and because it represents all the things about the outdoors that I love. I also enjoy promoting a greater understanding of environmental issues and hope that what I do as part of our programme encourages greater awareness thereby helping to protect the environment for future generations. There is a good balance between working independently and working as part of a small team.

The sector offers job satisfaction but it is not particularly well paid and although there is some potential to progress at Holyrood, I might have to be prepared to look elsewhere for a management post eventually. 

As to the challenges of the job, the unpredictability can be difficult when you're trying to manage your diary. Also, while rangers by their very nature are required to be generalists; visitors can sometimes expect you to be specialists on a whole range of subjects. So keeping your finger on the pulse and monitoring developments in the world of cultural and natural heritage is an integral part of the job.

The most upsetting aspect of the job, is that in a popular outdoor environment such as Holyrood Park, with its steep slopes and sharp drops, accidents happen and these are sometimes serious and occasionally even fatal.

To anyone considering a career in environmental education, I would say think ahead and get as much work experience as you can. Take advantage of any networking events, look at lots of different organisations and how they vary.

AGCAS

Sourced by AGCAS editors

Date: 

October 2010

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