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This event is fully accessible.
Conservation career advice
Join us in October for this year’s ZSL Wildlife Careers Conference – the perfect event for anyone looking to pursue an animal related career.
Bringing together speakers from across our international conservation charity, the ZSL careers conference showcases the huge diversity of roles across the worlds of animal care and conservation, from veterinarian to field scientist and everything in between.
Participants will get a behind the scenes look at working with wildlife, with live talks from experts, hands-on workshops and networking opportunities with organisations across the sector.
Whether you know what wildlife career you want to pursue and are looking for advice, or simply have a passion for animals and don't know which direction to head in, this day will leave you with lots of inspiration on the next steps to take.
Please Note: This event is aimed at those early in their career journey, who want to know more about the sector and the routes in. However, there are plenty of opportunities throughout the day to network with staff and ask your own questions, so those further in their careers will still find it valuable to attend.
This year's Conference is now sold out! If you were lucky enough to grab a ticket, you can see the online and in person programmes below.
Ticket information
Tickets are £49 to attend in person. In person attendance will include:
- Exclusive networking opportunities
- Participation in hands on skill development workshops
- Refreshments throughout the day (including a sandwich lunch)
- Access to London Zoo in the breaks
- Additional Careers Resources
We are committed to making careers in conservation accessible for all, and so encourage attendees from groups underrepresented in our sector. As such, a number of in-person tickets have been reserved free of charge for those who meet the criteria below.
- Those from BAME backgrounds
- Those with a disability
- Those currently or previously in receipt of Free School Meals
- Those currently in care, care leavers or young care givers.
If you meet any of the above criteria, please email workexperience@zsl.org to claim a free ticket.
Get in touch to claim your free ticket if you meet the criteria
If you are unable to attend in person, we also have free online tickets available for booking. Please note however, the networking opportunities and workshop variety will be limited for online participants.
Please note – this event is for young people over the age of 16 only. Anyone under this age will unfortunately be unable to attend.
You can only select one ticket at a time through the links above, but if you follow the link again, each ticket will remain in your basket to purchase altogether.
Structure of the day:
The day will run from 9:00-17:00, (beginning at 10:00 for online participants), including time for breaks and lunch, on Thursday 30th October 2024. It will take place in the Huxley Lecture Theatre at London Zoo, with the event also being streamed online over Zoom.
The morning will consist of a series of talks and panel discussions, and the afternoon will be focused on hands on workshops. Speakers will cover the following fields:
- Animal Care
- Veterinary Care and Vet Nursing
- Science and Conservation
- Alternative Unexpected Animal Careers
The full agenda will be finalised in early October and emailed to all attendees.
Main location – The Huxley Lecture Theatre and Bartlett Room.
The Huxley Lecture Theatre has step free access available throughout. There is a small lip to enter the building, but access to the lecture theatre is level. Spaces for wheelchair users are located at the end of the back two rows of seats, closest to the entrance to the lecture theatre.
The lecture theatre has fold-down seating, and each seat has a backrest and armrests. There is enough seating for every attendee to have a seat. Please email us if you need to reserve a seat on the front row.
Please note, the lighting in the lecture theatre is quite dim, but staff will be on hand to assist anyone that needs support.
There are plenty of quieter spaces in the building and nearby that can be used if anyone needs to take any time for themselves. These will be clearly signposted from the lecture theatre.
There will be no BSL interpreter present, but for those joining online, the option of closed captions will be available.
There are grass areas outside the lecture theatre which can be used as spending areas for assistance dogs. Alternatively, dogs can be taken to Regent’s Park. If you are planning on bringing an assistance dog, please let us know in advance, as you'll need to attend a briefing with our duty manager and there may be certain workshop locations that are inaccessible for you. You can see our full information about assistance animals here.
Secondary location for lunch and afternoon networking stalls - The Prince Albert Suite
The Prince Albert Suite is located above the main restaurant in London Zoo. It is accessible via two flights of stairs, or a lift. Once inside, the room is fully step free.
This venue will be the location of lunch and the networking stands, as well as the final panel discussion of the day. These seats have a back but no arm rests. Spaces for wheelchairs with be reserved along the end of the rows.
Accessible toilets
There is an accessible toilet located next to the Huxley Lecture Theatre in the same building, accessed via a ramp through the theatre. The door to the toilet is 34” (86cm) wide. Once inside, there is a space of 28.5”x49” (71cmx124cm) clear of the door to allow it to close. Once inside with the door closed, there is a turning space of 49”x61” (124cmx155cm) next to the toilet.
The next closest fully accessible bathroom to the Huxley Lecture Theatre is located at the Terrace Restaurant within London Zoo, five-minutes travel from the lecture theatre. This is downstairs from our secodnary location, The Prince Albert Suite, accessed via a lift from this space. These points are both marked on page 2 of our schools maps.
Neither bathroom requires a radar key to enter.
Afternoon workshop locations
Once the workshops have been finalised, we will share access information about each location here.
Free companion tickets
A free companion ticket is available to anyone who needs one. Please email us at Workexperience@zsl.org to request one. You do not need to provide any evidence in order to request a companion ticket.
Contact
Please email us at workexperience@zsl.org if you need to request any additional accommodations, such as reserving a seat in the front row of the lecture theatre. We will try our best to cater for any such requests.