Shani’s eco dreams come true!

SHANI BLYTH
Phillip Island Nature Parks

Imagine your job is to protect Australia’s native animals and your office is the vast landscape of Victoria’s iconic Phillip Island. For AFL SportsReady former trainee, Shani Blyth, this is a reality.

After recently completing her traineeship at Phillip Island Nature Parks, Shani was asked to stay on, with a three year contract as an Environment Ranger.

“The whole traineeship has been an incredible opportunity but to be offered a semi-permanent role has been my greatest achievement to date.”

“I love working in the outdoors and giving back to our beautiful environment.” Shani added.

Shani embarked on her AFL SportsReady journey in 2010 when she pursued a school based Indigenous traineeship at the ANZ bank in Phillip Island.

“I completed two traineeships, my first one was with ANZ which made me see that I wasn’t made to work in an office, and that my real passion was working in nature and the outdoors.”

“Working at Phillip Island Nature Parks made me realise that I am set for an outdoors career. The hands on wild life experience is where I see my future.”

Shani’s supervisors Margie Woods and Jarvis Weston have constantly supported her throughout her traineeship and see a bright future for her as an Environment Ranger.

“Shani has proven to be a valuable member of our team and has contributed significantly in the time she has been here.” Human Resource Manager for the park, Margie said.

Her current supervisor, Jarvis , Ranger in Charge of Environment, is one of Shani’s biggest supporters and is thrilled to see her stay on.

“What’s been most rewarding is seeing Shani develop in her field. Watching her absorb everything she needs to know about the environment from Identifying dog tracks and fox tracks, to watching her learn about environmental management.”

“We took on a trainee to give someone with initiative and a good work ethic to get their foot in the door of the environment industry and I think we achieved that.” Jarvis added.

While completing her traineeship Shani studied a Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management which was a huge benefit to her.

“I was able to really learn and understand  about my role and the Australian environment. Now I have a greater understanding of Victoria’s ecosystems and the wildlife native to our land.”

For Shani, connecting with local wildlife in their natural habitat and completing a penguin handling course has been a highlight of her career to date.

“Working with wildlife has been awesome. The penguin handling was unbelievable. I wasn’t allowed to wear gloves and it took me around 10 minutes to build up the courage to pick the penguin up, but once I did it was fine.”

Now, with a three year contract she has the opportunity to go even further in this exciting industry.

“Traineeships are definitely worthwhile. It’s been a great experience and I’ve been places that I never dreamed of going.”

If you want to ignite a career in your dream industry just like Shani then click here to view all of our current opportunities: AFL SportsReady’s job board.

If you would like to know more information about any of our programs including, traineeships, courses, education and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs, register here and keep up to date with AFL SportsReady.