Samuel Jackson
Current Employer/Organisation Name
Ecologi
What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?
I recently became Climate Impact & Partnerships Manager at Ecologi (subscription based sustainability company) and am responsible for ensuring that our subscribers’ money goes towards funding the most effective climate solutions. I am also Content Manager & Assistant Editor at Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency. Prior to this, I spent 3 years in the adventure tourism industry after completing my MA which was also at Exeter.
Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?
My degrees and my personality really led me down a path of wanting to do something worthwhile and valuable to the planet – and I couldn’t find a cause I was more ready to through myself into than climate change. It’s incredibly rewarding but also a difficult challenge at times. But every single day I feel like I’m contributing to making a positive difference.
Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?
I was a member of Raise and Give (RAG) and a committee member for them for most of my time at Exeter.
What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?
My lecturers were amazing. I always enjoyed being surrounded by researchers and teachers who were at the very top of their field. A personal highlight were lectures from Jonathan Davies and Shane Glackin, two of my favourite lecturers from my course, who ran my favourite modules including Philosophical Readings and Philosophy of Law.
What did you enjoy most about studying here?
The campus and the learning environment are second to none. I felt at home in Exeter and I really thrived – which allowed for an enriching and productive learning environment.
Why did you choose to study at Exeter?
Like everyone else, I fell in love with the campus. But not just in a geographical sense – I fell in love with the vibrancy and atmosphere as much as anything else. It really is a special place.
What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?
Analytical skills. Being able to apply previous experience/knowledge to new problems is probably the most vital thing for me. Also, the ability to take an extremely complex or specialised situation and distil it into salient facts, and communicate it effectively. These communicative, argumentative and analytical skills were vital in my studies and are vital to this day.
What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?
Do not be concerned if your career doesn’t follow a straight path. The jobs and housing market – and COVID – teach us that there are always going to be obstacles and blockers which will prevent us from living a life out of the movies, or similar to those of previous generations – and that is absolutely normal. Use your talents, be unafraid to seize opportunities, and remember that your value is often much greater than you think. If you are looking to get into climate movement or sustainability work: just get stuck in. This industry (although I prefer the term ‘movement’) will be ‘all hands on deck’ for the coming years. My path is proof that you don’t need to be a conservation biologist or meteorologist to play a part in the climate movement, so learn what you can whilst you’re studying and then throw yourself into it afterward.
What are your plans for the future?
For the foreseeable future I will be working in the climate movement in my current post with Ecologi. Until significant progress is made in the fight to contain the climate emergency, I’m not sure whether I will move out of this sector. I’m lucky that my job is remote-first which means I’m able to visit new places (via slow travel mostly) and I hope do some more of this before settling back in the UK.
