Great Ecology is Attending The New Jersey ASLA 2025 Annual Meeting Conference!
January 22, 2025
Great Ecology is Attending The New Jersey ASLA 2025 Annual Meeting Conference!
January 22, 2025

Blog & News


January 28th, 2025

Featured Ecologist: Jon Green

Who or what inspired you to become an ecologist?
Growing up in the forests of New Hampshire I took nature and wildlife for granted when I was younger. When I started traveling internationally, I realized how many people in the world have limited access to nature and wildlife. Moving to the western U.S. I experienced landscapes that were sublime, unspoiled – similar to the experiences that John Muir and Mark Twain had when they moved west. I decided to dedicate my life’s work to protecting and managing our open spaces for the benefit of wildlife and for future generations.
 
What are you most looking forward to in your role? Why?
With a strong background in field work and land management, I’m most excited to bring my practical expertise to Great Ecology’s projects. Contributing proven ideas and tested solutions to habitat restoration and conservation efforts is a great way to streamline the process and affect high quality restoration outcomes for our team and our clients.
 
What is a typical day like for you at work?
Every day is different, and I enjoy that variety. Some days I’m planning a project with our team, other days writing field reports, or out collecting data on a restoration site. 
 
If you had free reign and unlimited resources, what environmental issue would you most like to tackle?
Climate change is clearly the driving force behind almost all our current environmental challenges. However, as the saying goes, crisis is equal parts danger and opportunity. As we face the effects of global climate change, both increasing extremity in weather patterns and natural disasters, I think we also have a real opportunity to reinvent the way humans interact with the natural world. I would like to see our global economy shift to clean, renewable energy sources, stronger environmental laws and ethics, and regenerative practices within agriculture, forestry, mining, transportation, and infrastructure development. We can and should be creating whole new sectors in the economy and millions of new jobs around environmental stewardship and renewable energy.
 
What do you think the future of ecology will look like?
This is the million-dollar question. I’d like to think that the future of ecology will be bringing human communities back into balance with natural communities. I hope this is true and can be done in a timely manner for realistic, achievable results.
 
Do you have any advice for people considering a career as an ecologist?
My advice for anyone considering a career as an ecologist is to get engaged with your local community groups. Whether you’re considering job opportunities in the public sector, private sector, or non-profit sector, you will need to engage with people in various fields across all walks of life. Get involved as a volunteer, community leader, public servant – the more you know and understand the work being done on the ground, the better you will be able to engage with and bring empathy to everyone you meet.