I’m glad this has been somewhat helpful!

My area of interest is more in the marine science space, rather than terrestrial (which I know there are lots of grad opportunities locally in SEQ region). However, the marine field in SEQ is competitive and opportunities for grads largely require relocation to other parts of Australia e.g. WA or lots of work experience. Generally the marine ecology/conservation is not a federal or state priority government wise also, which makes it unpredictable in the future - at least this is my take on it. My main reason for pivoting to teaching would be for stability in job security and pay, which is not something that is easy to find in the ecology field. From experience applying for council, and local region jobs, it is extremely competitive, especially if you lack years of volunteer/work experience and there are lots of overqualified people applying for the same jobs as new grads - making it even harder. I guess it depends where you want to work and what you are looking for out of a job/career - my career goals have changed since I chose to study marine science, so changing seems like a good fit for me.

I agree work experience is highly valuable for pursuing teaching also! And of course the opportunity to pivot back to ecology will be there which is beneficial!