Practical Nature Conservation

Biologist Pascale Hutter has found her ideal place to work: an environmental bureau in Northwest Switzerland, where she’s involved in monitoring biodiversity to track the long-term development of selected plant and animal species. In this role, she gets to use her specialist expertise, determine species and genetic profiles, and statistically evaluate surveys. “I deal with questions of biology that have always interested me,” explains Hutter. She obtained her Master’s degree in 2015; she came to UZH because of its good reputation and the broad range of biology subjects it offers. She liked the research environment and the exchange with other scientists, which meant a PhD was initially an option. So after her Master’sm she continued to work at the university with her professor, Barbara Tschirren, on a research project investigating Japanese quail. But because she wanted to work in nature conservation in a role that involved putting research findings into practice, she decided against an academic career. She looked around for suitable jobs while working to acquire a deeper and broader knowledge of species and biological contexts. After an internship, she found her dream job as a research associate at the environmental bureau Hintermann und Weber. She’s extremely satisfied.

Stefan Stöcklin