Collaboration
Gef’s 30 Under 30 2024 Winners: Q&A with Anna Clarke-Smith
Ten categories. Thirty young visionaries making their mark on the Isle of Man. Introducing the 2024 #Gef30Under30 winners: the next generation of our island’s leaders.
The Collaboration category winners, brought to you by the Manx Wildlife Trust, show us that working together makes everything better.
What is your name and age?
Anna Clarke-Smith, age 25.
Job title or role in the community?
Upland Ranger with the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, and Type One Diabetic Ambassador
How did you start your career or role in the community?
My journey in the STEM community started in 2017, when I decided to take my love of geography at high school and apply for an Environmental Science degree at Sheffield Hallam University. After the first term at university I was in love with the subjects I was studying more than ever, 3 amazing years later (including COVID) I finally graduated. Since returning to the Island in 2021, after graduating I threw everything I had learned into working as an environmental consultant for DEFA, securing my current role as upland ranger last year. Since then I’ve not looked back, instead I’ve kept opening doors behind which lie new opportunities. I would highly recommend a career in STEM to anyone!
I started participating in more charity work for Diabetes IOM aged 16, since returning after university I jumped back into educational work through my social media platforms, and now often participate in events hosted by Diabetes IOM. In the last year I have sat on a chat panel with leading diabetes technology advocates, and highlighted challenges in diabetic care on the Inland to local political members.
In one sentence, summarise your journey so far as a young and successful person under 30.
My journey so far has been marked by many personal and professional challenges and achievements, including impactful contributions to the preservation of the Island’s beautiful upland environment, and my role in actively advocating for diabetic care on the Isle of Man.
Tell us about your business/industry, is there something interesting about it that most people wouldn’t expect?
My team’s work plays both a direct and indirect but crucial role in the management and provision of ecosystem services on the Isle of Man. Our work includes caring for the 20,000 acres of upland estate, which includes the Island’s largest terrestrial carbon store in the form of peatland. Due to the nature of our work, much of it is hidden in upland gullies and on steep slopes. Where we aim to preserve our Island’s drinking water quality, improve the uplands climate resilience, and reconnecting woodland corridors through planting and natural regeneration.
Have you experienced any hurdles in your career or community efforts and if so, how did you overcome them?
In my role as an upland ranger I find the balance between conservation efforts and the interests of local community and stakeholders is a regular testing point. However, I have always been keen to engage with as many people as possible from all areas to encourage active learning from all angles. Communication is key in my role, and when a hurdle comes my way I’d like to think that through open and honest conversations complex situations can be worked effectively without sacrifice to the Island’s beautiful environments, and the wildlife that call it home.
In my personal life, Type one diabetes is my constant run of hurdles. Which is why I strive to break as many existing hurdles down so that future patients do not have to fight so hard for access to diabetic technology or life changing information. Again through working closely and within the Island’s diabetic community alongside Diabetes IOM we aim to break the stigmas attached to living with a chronic illness, rather encouraging people to use it to their advantage in any way possible. I know my diabetes has give me the confidence to be the communicator I am now in my every day role.
Tell us about why you think you won the category you did?
I’d firstly like to thank the wonderful individuals in my team at DEFA who nominated me, I was so humbled by the nomination!
I would like to think my enthusiasm and engagement in my role played a factor in my nomination. I love my job and my passion is shared by the people who surround me at work. My role is heavily involved in protecting and restoring our upland habitats, which plays a fundamental role in the bigger climate change picture. Alongside my role, I live with Type one Diabetes which doesn’t stop me from having an often physically demanding job. I don’t allow my invisible illness to prevent me from achieving in life, it just requires a little more planning and careful decision making for the rest of my life. I hope this attitude is what inspires younger diabetics, as I know younger me would be screaming “You go girl!’.
Who are your role models, either on-island or off, in your sector or outside of it?
My former manager in the Forestry, Amenity and Lands team, Graeme Watson has from day one has shown me what passion and dedication for your work day in day out looks like, he was fundamental to me wanting to return to DEFA after graduating from university. That said my current manager Shaun Gelling is also a source of inspiration, his commitment to going above and beyond for the Isle of Man’s upland estate for 20 + years is incredible. I am so grateful for his mentorship, encouragement and feedback.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
A university lecturer encouraged me to stay adaptable and open to learning, as the environmental sector is constantly changing and growing. Therefore, we will be required to constantly need innovative solutions to new and emerging challenges.
What do you wish you knew when you were getting started in your career?
I wish I had appreciated that setbacks are part of a longer process, whereby no matter how passionate about a project you are, you have to be patient.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans include continuing to have impact on larger-scale environmental projects, alongside working on strengthening existing policies to protect the Island’s upland ecosystems and their services.
I hope to increase the educational engagement to inspire and educate our sector has with the next generation.
What changes do you hope to see in your sector or community in the coming years?
I hope to see a continuing trend in young inspiring individuals, especially women taking up key roles within the STEM workforce. They are fundamental to bringing different, new ideas and solutions to the table. Shaping the way we tackle complex environmental challenges.
On a slightly different note, I hope to see the Island move towards having a greater understanding and acceptance of diabetes, a reduction in stigma that further increases the already amazingly supportive and open community. Education and engagement with the public is something I love to be part, even more so when it directly impacts the proactive management of an illness that effects so many on the Isle of Man.
What, for you, are the benefits of staying on or moving back to the island for young people under 30?
My love for environmental conservation was born here, our beautiful natural surroundings have played a huge role in brining me home post university. Our small island is so special, from our coastal to upland environments, you can never stop exploring! The tight knit community of the Isle of Man plays a massive part of the collaborative work we can achieve in such an effective way in often a shorter period of time then our friends across the Irish Sea.
What does being a Gef’s 30 Under 30 winner mean to you?
I am super excited and proud to have received this recognition! I love my role within my team at DEFA, as well as the work I do within the community for diabetes, so to be recognised for that is extra special. I find it amazing everyday that I got to take my hiking hobby and enjoyment of the great outdoors and essentially turn it into a job.
Recognising and celebrating your own or others’ careers and roles in the community not only honours their dedication but inspires and encourages others to dedicate themselves achieving great things. 30 Under 30 is an amazing boost of confidence, it has certainly given me more determination than ever to continue work within the Island’s community, it can have such a profound positive influence.
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