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part of Citizen Science
CAREERS has been set up to transform one of the UK environmental sector’s most urgent challenges: the persistent underrepresentation of people of colour.
13% of environmental undergraduates in the UK are people of colour (vs 28% across all subjects).
7–9% progress to doctoral level, with even fewer entering environmental careers.
4.5% of environmental sector staff identify as people of colour, compared with 16 % across the UK workforce
The environmental workforce must reflect the diversity of the UK to be effective, inclusive, and innovative. Without action, we risk excluding the talent, perspectives, and lived experiences needed to solve complex environmental challenges.
CAREERS is committed to addressing these inequities, starting with student experiences of citizen science and fieldwork. To achieve this, CAREERS has been created as a super-consortium, bringing together deep expertise in widening participation and equitable research training with multiple environmental & government organizations to share evidence and accelerate impact. Together, we work with 30+ partners across higher education, conservation NGOs, government departments and citizen science schemes. A student panel is central to our work, advising and challenging the project on its equality, diversity, and inclusion work. Read more about our partnership and funding.
Learning fieldwork techniques
Photo: Alison Dyke / CAREERS
We are co-designing impactful, evidence-based solutions with students, academics, and practitioners — testing what works and building pathways for equitable access into environmental science.
Our mission is to inspire, upskill, and empower people of colour to pursue environmental research careers through:
Co-creating practical, evidence-based solutions.
Photo: Alison Dyke / CAREERS
Our initial focus is on four Yorkshire cities — Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, and York — where we have strong community and university links. Our partners’ reach extends nationwide, providing a platform for scaling up.
Read more about the project on the CAREERS website.
Note: We use the terms “People of Colour” and “Students of Colour” respectfully, while recognizing the limitations and complexities of these terms. We value the importance of acknowledging, respecting, and celebrating the cultural and ethnic identities of individuals within the broad categories they describe.
CAREERS is co-led by Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) and UK Terrestrial Evidence Partnership of Partnerships (UKTEPoP).
YCEDE is a collaboration between five Yorkshire universities and external partners and is dedicated to transforming access to postgraduate research for people of colour by addressing systemic barriers and creating lasting change. UKTEPoP is a coordinated initiative convened by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) which brings together organizations from across the UK to strengthen biodiversity monitoring through citizen and community science.
The core team are all based at the University of York
CAREERS works with five Yorkshire universities: the University of York, University of Bradford, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, through the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE).
These institutions play a key role in the project by helping to recruit students for the Student Engagement Panel, providing staff expertise, and supporting the delivery of fieldwork opportunities that explore pathways into environmental careers. Their reach, resources and commitment to equity in education strengthen CAREERS’ ability to connect students of colour with meaningful experiences and sector networks.
CAREERS works with a diverse network of organizations across the charity, NGO, government, research, and industry sectors. These partners include environmental charities, equality and inclusion networks, public bodies, and doctoral training centres. Together they provide expertise, resources, and opportunities that strengthen our mission to connect students of colour with equitable pathways into research, conservation, and public-facing careers.
This project is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of its commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion in environmental research.
Feature / In this Q&A, Rachel Pateman, a Research Fellow at SEI York, discusses the importance of inclusivity in volunteer biological recording.
Journal article / This article advocated for greater understanding of barriers to participation in citizen science projects and suggested methods for improving impact.
Journal article / Who takes part in citizen science and how do we engage those who don't?
