Sue Sayer MBE

"The personality types fit me well and show that I am well suited to the job role I have created for myself. If I want to protect my life’s passion – the UK’s globally rare, native, heritage grey seals – then I need understand peoples’ motivation so I can use words creatively to persuade them that grey seals are key to coastal economies like Cornwall, not only as a tourism asset but as positive ecosystem regulators ensuring a thriving marine environment for coastal industries. I spend my life observing and learning about seals and still see and discover new things about them even after 23 years. I understand that in order to protect seals I need to work with people first, by creatively engaging them that will interest them."

"People, people, people – creating links with new, existing and long-term volunteers and other audiences.Communication – finding creative ways of telling seal stories – from amazing behaviours to shocking and chilling threats.Mentoring and inspiring – building the skills and confidence of our wonderfully talented ranger team and volunteers.Campaigning – to make the world a better place for seals and people – sharing our seas successfully.Expertise – sharing our knowledge and understanding about seal ecology, biology and behaviour.Identifying cultural architects – people who will help us make the biggest difference in power or across wider networks.Self-motivation – keeping myself inspired, interested, healthy and fit enough to enable me to all the things I need to do for seals – e.g. wild swimming, kayaking, abseiling for rescues, long days at sea and romping over clifftops in the cold and wet for hours. "

"Geography teacher – helped me to understand environmental interconnections and a holistic big picture.Head of human resources – understanding how people tick and what they need in order to be motivated and engaged.Head of vocational education – putting the learner at the centre of their learning and making it relevant to the real world.Director Classroom of the Future – embracing new technology, taking risks, doing things differently and riding a wave of serendipity.Founder of Cornwall Seal Group – how to share passion and maintain interest forever, self-belief and a ‘just do it’ attitude.Charity Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust – how to become an effective, efficient and reputable organisation meeting statutory and moral obligations.Seal Research Trust – sharing the love of seals across a national network, creating local hubs of citizen scientists researching and monitoring seals whilst taking lead ambassador roles on their local patch.I have realised that job satisfaction and security lie in your transferrable and generic skill set – you can pick up relevant knowledge as you go. "

"If you spend your life doing your passion, you do little else. I love my partner and cat. He is a rare man who is happy to let me live my life as I wish and to the full without feeling threatened or left out. He places very few expectations on me and let’s me be free to follow my dream. This makes me very lucky! I have always had cats and love their independence and affection. I love the sea, nature and the outdoors. When I get down, a walk outside usually brings me ‘out of my grumpy box’. I love where I live and will never move anywhere else in the world. I travelled a lot when I was younger and seem to have got this out of my system. I enjoy taking time to feel pleasure in small things – warm sunshine in the winter, the shape of a wave or leaf, the chirp of a bird and a hug from anyone!"

"I start very early – sometime 05:30 and check emails at my office PC (in my spare bedroom) and this will likely be the last thing I do every night too before going to bed…or checking our social media / fundraising websites. Twice a week I spend 3 hours + surveying seals in the field (from land or a boat) and the rest of that day processing the 600+ photos taken for individual seal IDs (you can recognise them from their unique fur patterns) and then logging the considerable data captured that day. Seal IDs help us generate interesting lifelong seal stories to hook people into what we do. On other days I might be delivering talks or workshops for schools, universities, community or special interest groups. A critical part is applying for grant funding and supporting our four paid rangers – our Amazement and Discovery Ranger; Creativity and Activity Ranger; Research Ranger and Sanctuaries at Sea Ranger) as they are the next generation of marine conservationists. I also need to ensure we develop some self-generated funding to sustain our charity in the longer term. Throughout my day, I have to demonstrate how much I value the contributions of our talented rangers and our amazing volunteer citizen scientist network without whom we could not spread the word about our wonderful seals. The most challenging parts of what I do include data analysis, writing up peer reviewed scientific papers and inputting our research findings into public, planning and policy consultations nationally and internationally. I never stop working – my entire life is doing this, as my passion is my work. I no longer get paid as our young rangers need funding before I do! I even dream about seals. Wall to wall seals 24/7!"

"4 A levels (3Bs Geography, Biology, General Studies and 1D Maths)Geography Degree (2:2) Kings College LondonPost Graduate Certificate of Education (Sussex)Geography Teacher (London 6 years); Head of 6th FormHead of Human Resources / Vocational learning; Advanced Skills Teacher (Cornwall 13 years)Director of Classroom of the Future (Cornwall 4 years)Seal researcher since 2000 (Cornwall to present)Founder and Director SRT formerly Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust since 2004;Founder of Seal Network UK 2019;Chair of the Seal Alliance;MBE."