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Together we can Save The World
Background
Andy Clark has a extensive experience as an ecologist and as a communicator, and it is the coming-together of these two things that make The Top Of The Tree so unique and so effective. To understand scientific concepts, to understand the needs and objectives of researchers, NGOs and government organisations, to understand the perspectives of the 'lay' public, and to communicate effectively and respectfully between all of those demographics is a skill that can facilitate one of the most important things that the world needs now: understanding.
An Ecologist
A youth spent outdoors was honed in the reading of a BSc(hons) in Biology at the University of St Andrews. It was here that Andy developed his practice as a holistic ecologist, applying holistic concepts to analyse the spread of White Nose Syndrome in bats across North America.
Leaving St Andrews, Andy joined conservation NGO Operation Wallacea (Opwall), and spent three field seasons learning front-lines tropical conservation from some of the foremost researchers in the field.
Returning to the UK, Andy undertook an MSc in Ecology and Environmental Management at the University of York, connecting again with world-renowned researchers and influencers, investigating the adsorption of heavy-metal toxins onto micro-plastic fragments and working with the GWCT on his thesis on Bat species distributions in the Scottish Highlands.
A Communicator
Andy loves nothing more than helping people find greater joy in the world around them.
A trained actor in youth, in St Andrews he began to develop his audience-engagement as a hobbyist filmmaker and lead guitarist in a blues-rock band.
From the age of 16 he has been a tutor with Speak Easy UK - an organisation who train delegates in presentation skills and public speaking. With Speak Easy Andy has trained a vast diversity of delegates, from university students to established business people, from Optometrists to Footballers. Through recent work with the League-Manager's Association Andy has coached professional football coaches, club spokespeople and TV presenters.
This practiced ability to work with a guide such a diversity of people makes Andy an equally effective Director and Producer of films, and is now a multi-award-winning filmmaker connecting with new communities and new concepts every day.
"Rock'N'Roll Conservation"
We're here to save the world, and the ethos of The Top Of The Tree is that people should want to change their behaviours and save the world because it makes them feel good. By engaging with people positively, and giving people something to aspire towards (rather than to run away from) we take the strongest and most effective steps towards the world we really want to live in.
What if you could look out at the world and be damn proud of what you saw, because you made it the way it is? Yes you'll see hardships along the way, and there will be plenty of nay-sayers trying stop you. 'The Man' will build walls, tell you that you're too small to make a difference, and insist that the status quo can't change. But you go on anyway, because making the world a better place makes you feel freakin’ awesome.
That’s Rock’N’Roll Conservation.
This is not a traditional approach conservation that works through fences, penalties or incentives. It's not transforming practice through education or ignorance. This is about cultivating a mindset of affirmation, of helping people accept the role that they have in this world and owning that. This world is in your hands, and you deserve to feel fantastic about that.
Collaboration
There are plenty of special interest groups in the world, and a diversity of views on how we should use and manage the world around us - and the world is richer for it. However, sometimes the common ground that unites us is the place we start to build real progress.
The Top Of The Tree is rigorously collaborative - all stakeholders are considered, all needs and opinions noted, the ecosystem in which we work and live fully appreciated.
Producer Andy Clark is immensely proud to have produced films over the last few years with support from, and in collaboration with, the following organisations:
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Collaboration
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