Bio

I have twenty three years’ experience as an ecologist in the academic, conservation and the private sectors, of which the last seventeen has been within consultancy. I am a Chartered Environmentalist. I am one of the leads within Atkins’ Ecology Practice on the subject of Biodiversity Net Gain and nature based solutions, in particular nature-based carbon removal. I have experience of dealing with a wide range of clients including wind farm developers, multi-national construction companies, local authorities, the DfT, Highways England, Natural England and RSPB. I have been involved in producing Ecological Impact Assessments regularly for the last seventeen years, including EcIAs for large complicated schemes such as wind farm developments and large-scale infrastructure schemes. I also have a good understanding of the planning system and have experience of undertaking Habitats Regulations Assessments (HRA) as part of the planning process. I have excellent project management experience (I have the Association of Project Managers - Project Fundamentals Qualification) ensuring high quality project delivery. I have experience of working as the Ecology Workstream lead for multidisciplinary projects such as HS2 Phase 1, A14 Highways England improvements scheme and East West Rail Phase 2. This has involved managing a large number of in-house ecologists and specialist sub-consultants and close liaison with client, engineers, other technical disciplines within Atkins and external consultees. Specialties: My expertise is incorporating biodiversity into projects through biodiversity net gain (BNG) and utilising the implementation of nature-based solutions to contribute to reducing carbon emissions. I have worked on projects involving the concept of biodiversity offsetting since 2013, when I worked on HS2 Phase 1 ‘No Net Loss’ approach. I am part of a team that provides strategic advice to Highways England on the topic of Biodiversity Net Gain and I have worked with housing developer Redrow, since 2017, providing them with strategic and technical advice on how to take forward their vision of providing Biodiversity Net Gain, on all their new developments. I have experience in supporting clients and policy makers in working towards delivering biodiversity net gain and natural capital, combining this to utilise nature-based solutions to achieve a wider environmental net gain and and ultimately a reduction in carbon emissions. Get in touch to talk to me about how including nature-based solutions in any project can benefit biodiversity, people and the climate.