I have spent my time so far getting to grips with WTSWW's many projects both on and off our reserves, working on habitat management plans, and surveying for the rare and important species that in-habitat this area.

I have come from a background of terrestrial mammal ecology, working on the pine marten translocations from Scotland to the Cambrian mountains and, more recently, the Forest of Dean. Due to the nocturnal nature of pine martens, my work on these projects involved radiotracking of the tagged animals throughout the night, which, whilst a bit anti-social, allowed me to have some of the best wildlife experiences. Regularly stumbling across badgers, barn owls, polecats and a few memorable encounters with wild boar really made the lack of sleep worth it. Prior to that I completed an MSC and a BSC in Conservation Biology from the University of Exeter (on the Cornish campus), which has given me a real understanding of Ecology and of course a love of living by the sea!

Some of the projects I’m currently working on include liasing with the Red squirrel team to develop a ‘random encounter model’ using camera traps, to help assess population levels of this elusive rodent in difficult to survey areas. This involves placing un-baited cameras in a grid pattern across the forest for set periods of time to analyse how many individual squirrels there are in each area. I’m also working externally with Welsh Gov on a new pilot project to find and protect a specific type of wildflower meadow, known as MG5. Smaller areas of hay meadow often aren’t protected under current payment schemes so this pilot project hopes to bring smaller landowners on board to help ensure this rare habitat is managed efficient for the future. I’m working towards various species licenses to allow more indepth surveys of protected species on our reserves, and of course I’m spending as much time as I can getting to know the 100+ reserves!

I’m really looking forward to working back in Wales and getting stuck into the varied and interesting work that being the trust’s new Conservation Officer involves.