Recently, I had the chance to join our team to assist with something I rarely get to do these days … manage geese on the ground. I spent much of late October and early November monitoring thousands of geese, manoeuvring around the airfield, and trying to outsmart (or at least outlast) the geese.
My time in the field brings me back to the national regulations and international standards that state that wildlife managers need to be ‘competent’ or ‘trained’ But what does that mean? Has the person who drafted that guidance material ever carried out wildlife management at an airfield themselves? How do ‘competent’ and ‘trained’ really reflect the skill, experience, and knowledge required to do the job well and effectively address wildlife hazards on and around airfields?
I’ve been working with several groups around the world to better answer those questions. We want to provide the industry with additional guidance to focus on what professionalism looks like in the field and to assist industry stakeholders to strive for true excellence in their wildlife teams. The materials aren’t quite ready yet, because it is difficult to put professionalism into words, despite being able to identify it on the ground clearly. We’ll keep you updated on those efforts in future newsletters.
Some might say I’m biased, but this quarter’s newsletter displays our passion for excellence and our emphasis on professionalism. Examples of this are our spotlight on Hugh Murray, an individual who is indispensable to our team, and Ronel Jit’s nomination for the Scientist of the Year, which demonstrates how our team members are admired in the industry.
I hope you enjoy the stories and that the last few weeks of the year are healthy, safe, and joyful. I look forward to catching up again in the new year.
