Veterinary Specialist and Sustainability Champion
“I put my head above the parapet and asked about sustainability. I didn’t think I knew enough and I didn’t know what could be done.”
Ellie West is an RCVS and EBVS specialist veterinary anaesthetist at Davies Veterinary Specialists, and has recently been appointed as Environmental Sustainability Lead at Linnaeus, which is part of Mars Petcare.
Download and read her full role model profile here
However, it started the conversation which led into my current split role. Having had that curiosity and persistence, and also insisting our vision was possible, we have started to move the goalposts.”
Dare to be average – your soul will thank you for the gift
“I don’t think you can be everything to everyone. My vision of a perfect career is about balance now, not about achievement. A better understanding of my own strengths and weaknesses has helped.”
Perfectionism in all areas is not how we excel and make the best of our talents. Balance over achievement and self-awareness are key to enable us to continue giving the best of ourselves, while avoiding burnout.
Striving for impactful change
“I took up my role within Linnaeus after we started a Green Group at Davies in 2017 and I recognised an absence of practical experience of sustainability.
My vision aligned with that of the Linnaeus Executive and we are working hard to bring that to reality and have impactful change on our environmental impacts.”
From theatre to desk duties!
“While at Davies, I work closely with highly-skilled teams of interns, nurses, supervisors and clinicians to deliver a timely diagnostic and theatre anaesthesia caseload.
“On sustainability days, I wake early with a drive to crack on and make today matter. Working from home means that the only pre-requisite to starting the day is a cup of tea. I spend a lot of the day on calls, working on communications, planning strategies and responding to queries. but I stop when my back can’t take being at a desk any longer!”
Did you find Ellie’s story inspiring? Read more inspirational stories from our Veterinary Woman role models here.