In September I had the privilege of attending the first Compassionate Conservation Conference, hosted by Born Free and the WildCRU team from Oxford University. It was held at Lady Margaret's Hall and I arrived a little nervous, amplified by the grandeur of the place.

I had been invited to give a talk, having met Chris Draper – one of the organisers – at the International Elephant Foundation conference in January. He felt that our work on the release of captive elephants was ideal for the conference because it directly links animal welfare and conservation.

The symposium brought together scientists and practitioners from a range of disciplines to debate animal welfare issues in conservation, look for practical outcomes and promote a dialogue between these two disciplines that are often perceived as mutually exclusive.

At the first evening's welcome drinks, I was incredibly excited to be in a crowd that contained my conservation heroes; people I have been quoting since my A levels. Joyce Poole, Nigel Leader-Williams, Carl Jones, Ian Redmond – to name just a few – have all carried out pioneering work that has inspired me throughout my career. To have the opportunity to talk at this conference and to receive such positive feedback from these people has been a career highlight.

The conference was full of emotional highs and lows, as people presented work on the most horrendous abuses of the wildlife we share our world with. Animals are also being traded into extinction. We debated the ways that we, as a collective group of concerned people, might be able to change this and make conservation a priority without disregarding the welfare of the individual.

I look forward with hope for the conservation and welfare of the animals of this world. This conference only marks the beginning of what we can achieve by working together.