In 1978 I joined the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology at Monks Wood in Cambridgeshireas part of the pollution and ecotoxicology section working on a number of projects as diverse as heavy metal pollution in sea birds, pesticide in birds of prey and timber treatments and bats. I also worked for a time on amphibians, wild flowers and a number of different bird and mammal species. I later moved to the Institute of Freshwater Ecology, also at Monks Wood, where I gained experience in the sampling and identification of freshwater zooplankton, invertebrates, and coarse fish.
I moved to York University in 1993 to manage a small team of scientists from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology looking into the biological and chemical fluxes and the hydrology of the major rivers leading into the Humber Estuary for a large NERC project (Land Ocean Interaction Study - LOIS).
In 1996 I relocated to Dorset to work on chalk streams and rivers, looking particularly at the effect and fate of nutrients in the River Frome and Piddle. I was also local catchment manager for the Lowland Catchment Research (LOCAR) Programme.
The CEH site was closed down in 2007 and I became a freelance ecological consultant. Since then I have conducted numerous surveys for a variety of species: bats, badgers, water voles, birds, reptiles and amphibians. A large part of my work is carrying out bat surveys in England and Wales on residential, agricultural and commercial properties. I have undertaken extended phase 1 Habitat surveys as part of the ecological assessment of large scale developments, farms and hospital sites and this year I have become more involved in the code for sustainable homes assessment on a number of projects. I have a good relationship with a number of other consultants in the South of England often working with them on larger projects and surveys.
I hold Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales bat licences and have tree climbing/aerial rescue certificates.
I am a member of the Dorset and Camarthenshire Bat Groups, Dorset Wildlife Trust, the Bat Conservation Trust and the RSPB. I carry out voluntary bat surveys such as the NBMP surveys, Bechstein project, hibernation checks in churches, cellars, caves, trees and tunnels. In the past few years I have regularly carried out voluntary bird surveys and helped with the management of a number of nature reserves in Dorset.
