Profile
Megan Donald
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About Me:
I live in Perthshire with my partner and cat 🐱 called Lemon. I work at Lantra during the day and spend most of my free time exploring Scotland’s mountains with my friends 🏔️
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Even though my background is in Scotland’s countryside, I’ve spent most of my working life Glasgow, where most of my friends are. I absolutely love going to see new bands and artists there as well as eating food from all over the world. I’m also really into films and love doing a top 10 list at the end of the year!
Interesting fact: Doing Geography allowed me to study in Tanzania and write stories about animals…
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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How I use Geography in my work:
Everything I do is Geography! 🌍 Every day I have to think about Scotland’s natural landscapes and how people can up their skills to get jobs in rural places. Sometimes this is using my knowledge soil and climate change to better understand the challenges faced by farmers and sometimes it is about managing land use conflicts.
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My Work:
I research the jobs in Scotland’s countryside and help to get people more skilled in land-based work.
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I collect information about different land-based jobs like farming, forestry and wildlife conservation and try to figure out if people need more skills to be better at their jobs or to get a new job in the countryside. All our food comes from farms and we need to protect our animal and plant species – this means we need skilled people to do this work!
For example, I am working on a project that is using a mobile app to help 16-24 year olds record the tasks they do on a farm. This will then help build their CV and hopefully create the farmers of the future 🌾🐄🚜
I also go to school career fairs and try to spread the word about how great nature-based careers are 🌍🏫
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My Typical Day:
Wake up at 7am and always go for a walk before work. At 8am, I travel to a school career fair to set up our stall about nature-based careers. I spend most of the day playing a hands-on fishing game with students to teach them about sustainable fishing – it can get extremely competitive! Once back at home, I read a new land use policy and plan my trip to a farm the next day. Need to make sure the wellies are packed! I finish at 5pm.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would use the money to buy a life-size electronic model of a dairy cow that Lantra could take to schools to teach about cows’ digestive systems!
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Education:
I went to school in Millburn Academy in Inverness. I then went to University of Glasgow where I completed my Geography qualifications. A few years after that, I went to University of Strathclyde to do my teaching qualification.
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Qualifications:
8 Standard Grades (now called National 5)
6 Highers
2 Advanced Highers
1 Undergraduate Degree in Geography
1 Masters Degree in Human Geography
1 PhD in Human Geography
1 PGDE (teaching qualification) in Geography and Modern Studies
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Work History:
I loved Geography and studied it until I became a Dr of Geography. I studied loads of things including international politics in Tanzania and animal geography (yes, that’s a thing).
Once I finished my PhD, I worked at University of Stirling to support international students who had just arrived in Scotland. I helped organise their studies and provided advice if they had additional needs. I met people from nearly every continent including China, Tajikistan, Peru, New Zealand, Senegal and Russia.
I then started working as a researcher in animal welfare where I made teaching materials about caring for dogs. I had studied this during my PhD so it was exciting to put this into practice.
After this, I decided to retrain as a Geography and Modern Studies teacher and worked across central Scotland for 4 years in this role. This made me love getting young people outdoors and I realised how much young people need to be connected with nature.
I now work at Lantra where I get to do research AND educational activities about nature and land-based jobs. I’m lucky because I get to combine my key skills and specialist geography knowledge to create a job I love.
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Current Job:
Development Officer
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Employer:
Lantra Scotland
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
An international journalist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Sometimes for chatting!
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Outdoor teaching
Who is your favourite singer or band?
At the moment, the singer CMAT. Favourite all time is probably American punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs 😆
What's your favourite food?
Anything hot and spicy
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. I could have a lifetime supply of custard creams 2. I could have unlimited holiday funds 3. I could get a fully electric car
Tell us a joke.
Mountains aren't funny, they're hill areas
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