Johnathon Miller-McCall initially joined the Synchronicity Earth team as one of our Summer Interns – an internship that offered experience and training in communications, programmes, philanthropy and finance. His passion for communicating the wonder of nature and species led to an extended position supporting our Communications and Engagement team.
Here, he tells the story of his journey into the conservation world.
Natural-born nature nerd
These days, I describe myself as unabashed wildlife enthusiast and conservationist. But it wasn’t always that way.
This may sound cliché, but I have always been fascinated with the natural world. I remember catching insects in old takeaway containers as a child, forcing my friends to jump over a fence into an abandoned building site that nature had reclaimed to see the abundance of life there. Yes, I was that weird, nerdy kid. I was known as ‘professor’ in my family: I had a ‘scientific brain’ and would not stop researching animals or watching documentaries. Aside from obsessing over wildlife, I was always sketching animals and creating my own fantasy creatures.
This passion stayed with me until I finished school, however I became increasingly more unsure of what career path to take. Outside expectations made me question whether my interest in wildlife was normal, as none of my peers shared this. I began to feel like an anomaly, and the pressure to assimilate led me to settle on more conventional options.
Going back to my roots
I eventually started a role in credit control which turned out to be a huge learning curve. As my first office job, this was intimidating, and the culture made me reconsider my decision. This feeling persisted and after just over a year in the role, I applied to a degree course in Animal Management and Conservation. Receiving an offer the same week, I finally felt free to pursue something I wanted to do.
I can whole-heartedly say that leaving that job was the best decision ever – it released the ‘nerd’ I’d locked away out of fear of social norms. I was studying a subject I truly loved, and I felt at home.
After my degree, my studies were put into practice working as a dog handler, and as a trainee with London Wildlife Trust. Here I built valuable connections in the sector, learned about conservation and habitat management, and delivered workshops to the public on minibeast hunting and pond-dipping.
Sharing a sense of awe for the world felt natural to me, so I began creating educational wildlife videos to help people acknowledge life around them. Since then, I’ve made it my mission to ignite curiosity, inspire action, and educate others by producing engaging and digestible social media content.