New Surveyor on the Team

I’m Stuart, the new surveyor on the team. Let me get you up to speed on who I am and my experience:
I have always had a passion in the natural environment and the countryside. I love being outdoors and have watched far too many wildlife documentaries for my own good.

My passion and curiosity about the natural world led me read Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Studies focussed on ecology, conservation and animal behaviour culminating in a field trip to Tanzania. Still not enough, I spent a summer in North Cyprus on a marine turtle conservation project gaining hands on conservation experience.

Natural England was the next step in my career in environmental conservation, I worked for 6 years as a Lead Conservation and Land Management Adviser in rural Essex and then in the North West. Helping farmers and land owners access environmental funding through Higher Level Stewardship schemes aimed to manage and protect the countryside, as well as setting up habitat restorations projects with the likes of National Trust, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and Local Councils. I worked with landowners to give advice on the management of our nationally designated sites, our Sites of Scientific Interest.

Working in this field, I have first-hand experience of the damage that Non-Native Invasive Species can bring. Huge areas of important and rare habitat are under threat from a whole host of invasive plants, animals and insects. This bugs me a lot. Outside of work I like to go walking, camping, and spending time with friends in nice beer gardens (British weather permitting!)