Julia Hanmer,  Chief Executive

Julia has worked at BCT since 1998, on the London Bat Project, then as BCT’s first Chief Executive.  After having a break to start a family, Julia return to BCT as Deputy Chief Executive.  She has now moved back into the Chief Executive position.

Julia has more than 15 years' experience of developing conservation projects and raising money to make them happen. Previously she worked at the Mammal Society, CPRE and ICI. She has an MSc in Conservation from University College London and a Zoology degree from Oxford University.

Julia has been member of BCT since 1991 and is a member of London Bat Group and a past member of Cheshire Bat Group.

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Kit Stoner, Deputy Chief Executive  

Kit joined BCT in 2002 as Training Development Officer, and has since overseen the development of a number of courses for volunteers, consultants, arborists, planners and the construction industry. She then moved into the role of Training and Helpline Manager; she continues to have an overview of training and related projects, such as the mitigation conference.

Kit moved into the Deputy Chief Executive role at the beginning of September 2009.

Kit's interest in bats began when she did a distance learning module in Mammal Ecology and Conservation, and shortly after this, she joined the Cambridge Bat Group and signed up for some NBMP surveys. She was very excited when the opportunity at BCT came up and allowed her to combine her publishing and training experience with her interest in bats.

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Conservation Team

Dr Karen Haysom, Director of Conservation

Karen heads the Conservation Team, which includes the National Bat Monitoring Programme team, Biodiversity Officers and Bat Group Officers.  Before joining BCT in January 2006, she studied Zoology and trained as a research ecologist at Durham University.  She subsequently worked in ecological research at the Scottish Agricultural College, CABI Bioscience and Reading University.  Her research has mainly focused on the impact of agricultural management practices on
invertebrate and plant communities, agri-environment scheme policy and invasive non-native species. 

Karen first trained for a bat roost visitor licence when she was a member of Durham Bat Group in 1993 and has been spending her spare time with bats ever since.  She has volunteered as a Natural England bat warden for the Hampshire and Thames & Chilterns NE teams since 2001. Over the years, working around Britain has enabled her to join Essex, Ayrshire, Dumfries, Hampshire and Surrey Bat Groups. Her main involvement is with Berks. & South Bucks. Bat Group which she has chaired since 2003.  She enjoys taking part in BCT's National Bat Monitoring Programme and leading bat walks in Berkshire each summer.  Highlights of life as a bat enthusiast have included watching bats in the Peruvian Amazon, Costa Rica and Hungary and helping to organise "Bats and Trees weekends" and a regular surveying programme in Windsor Great Park. 

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Ruth Angell, Senior Research Scientist/ Project Manager

Ruth Angell joined BCT in March 2009 as Senior Researcher for the Welsh Agri-environment Monitoring Scheme. BCT is one of five partner organisations involved in this 3 year project looking at the effect that the Tir Gofal agri-environment scheme has on biodiversity. Ruth's interest in bats was sparked whilst she was doing an MSc in Conservation & Biodiversity, and she went to Greece to do a project on bats and their use of forest pools. After that she was hooked, and went on to do a PhD with Prof. John Altringham. This looked at population structure and mating behaviour of Daubenton's bat, and she spent four very enjoyable years studying bats at roosts and caves in the Yorkshire Dales. Ruth is very happy to have now joined the BCT team, and to have the opportunity to contribute to UK bat conservation.

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Biodiversity team 

Lisa Hundt, Head of Biodiversity

Lisa joined BCT as the biodiversity officer in April 2008 following work in both the public, private and charity sector. An initial interest, although not always positive, began from a young age watching fruit bats flying around her garden. This later developed during her time at Sussex University studying for a BSc in Ecology and Conservation where her dissertation topic focussed on the maternity roost characteristics of the Bechstein's bat.  On completion of the degree Lisa spent time working in London for organisations involved in parliamentary lobbying and campaigning before moving up north to complete a masters in Environmental Law.  Having spent enough time with her head in books, she decided to go back to ecology and worked as a consultant and roost visitor, during which time she obtained her bat licence.

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Pete Charleston, Investigations Officer (part time)

Pete has a lifetime of experience in investigation having served with North Wales Police for 30 years, the last eight of which was spent as a full time wildlife crime officer. He was the first officer ever to be seconded by the Police to a conservation agency building up what has been widely accepted as a very successful partnership with the Countryside Council for Wales. In that time Pete investigated and supervised investigations into over 2000 wildlife offences involving a broad range of species a large number of which involved bats. Since retirement in 2008 Pete has been contracted to provide a number of forces with wildlife crime advice and still acts as an advisor to the Chief Constables who lead on wildlife crime for the Police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Pete recognises that his expertise lies in investigations rather than bats. As such BCT benefits from those skills whilst the essential ecological expertise will be found amongst other BCT staff, bat groups and bat workers. He eagerly awaits the opportunities to visit and meet as many people as possible. His priority is that wherever possible his work will be aimed at securing compliance with the law amongst those who might otherwise commit offences.

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Kelly Gunnell, Bats and Built Environment Officer

Kelly is from South Africa where frequent camping and hiking trips to the bush and mountains had her hooked on nature from an early age. She studied Zoology and Journalism at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, and then went to the USA to do an MSc on the conservation genetics of Yellowstone cutthroat trout. During this time Kelly participated in many bat biodiversity surveys in New Mexico and has loved bats ever since. She has worked as an environmental consultant in Johannesburg and as an environmental researcher for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria. In the UK, Kelly has volunteered for organisations such as WaterAid and RESET, and her local Transition Town. Kelly joined BCT in April 2010 to promote bats and biodiversity in the built environment.

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National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) Team

Dr Kate Barlow, NBMP Development Manager

Kate Barlow joined BCT in July 2008 as part-time Investigations Officer. She moved over to the NBMP team working as Development Manager for in January 2010.

She got hooked on bats as an undergraduate while on summer expeditions to South America, and was then very fortunate to complete her PhD at Bristol University with Professor Gareth Jones, looking for ecological differences between what are now the two pipistrelle species: common and soprano. She got a bit sidetracked after that and went off to a bat-free zone, spending 4 years working for the British Antarctic Survey, but could not stay away from bats for too long! She spent the few years before she came to BCT doing consultancy work in Scotland. She is a roost visitor for SNH and a member of Lothians Bat Group.

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Philip Briggs, Projects Manager

Philip joined BCT in 2003. He currently manages the National Bat Monitoring Programme. 

Philip has been involved in the voluntary conservation sector since 1998. He developed an interest in bats through volunteering at one of London's best bat sites, the WWT London Wetland Centre, where he assists with regular bat surveys and leads bat walks and wildlife walks. He is a member of London Bat Group and Dorset Bat Group and spends a lot of his spare time leading or assisting with surveys of London's open spaces. Philip finds this very rewarding as, although London's bat habitat is somewhat fragmented, the region certainly has its fair share of interesting species. In 2007, he co-wrote a paper on trends in London's bat populations which was published in The London Naturalist.

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Dr Felicity Bates, NBMP Survey Coordinator

Felicity joined BCT in March 2010 as a Seasonal Helpline Officer. In October 2010, she moved to the NBMP team, taking over the role of Survey Coordinator. Prior this, she completed a PhD at the University of Bristol, studying the impact of hedgerow management on organic and conventional farms on small mammals, bats and their insect prey. She was also involved in voluntary wildlife surveys around the South West, such as dormouse and otter surveys. During her research she carried out surveys of bat foraging and commuting activity at hedgerows using Anabat detectors, and enjoyed it so much she soon purchased her own detector. Since then, she has been keen to get as much experience with bats as possible, including bat walks and hibernation counts with local bat groups, bat handling, harp-trapping and attending professional training courses. She is an active member of the Surrey Bat Group and is currently training for a Roost Visitor license, as well as carrying out voluntary work as a bat carer.

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Dr Jon Russ, iBats Project Coordinator

Jon joined BCT part time in 2005 and coordinates the iBats project in the UK and Eastern Europe. Since completing his PhD at Queen's University Belfast in 2000, investigating the community composition, habitat associations and echolocation of Northern Ireland's bats, he has carried out a wide variety of bat-related NGO and goverment funded projects. These include postdoctorate research at The University of Aberdeen on acoustic communication in pipistrelle bats, a study of pre-hibernal and hibernal activity of Leisler's bat, bioacoustic surveys of bat fauna in Madagascar and Thailand, the development of car-based monitoring programmes for The Republic of Ireland and the UK and the preparation of ASSI guidelines and biodiversity action plans for bats in Northern Ireland. He also has a particular interest in Nathusius' pipistrelle, one of the UK's rarest breeding bats. 

Jon is the Treasurer of the Warwickshire Bat Group and, as well as coordinating the iBatsUK survey for the group, manages a number of other projects, including the recent barbastelle radio-tracking study in the south of the county. After 15 years involvement in bat research and conservation he continues to be fascinated by these remarkable mammals.

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Bat Helpline

Amanda Adebisi, Helpline Manager

Amanda joined the BCT Helpline team in February 2007. She has a first class degree in Animal Behaviour with Ecology and Conservation from Anglia Ruskin University and has a passion for mammal conservation. Her interest in bats developed from a young age,  when she discovered one in her bedroom.  Originally from Grantham in Lincolnshire, Amanda has gained experience in helpline and administrative roles for companies such as 4-Rail Services and Wickes Head Office.

As well as working on the Bat Helpline, Amanda undertakes surveys for the NBMP and takes part in local bat walks.

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Crystal Schintz, Helpline Manager

Crystal  joined the BCT Helpline team in March 2008. She was born and raised in Canada, where she studied Fish & Wildlife at Sir Sandford Fleming School of Natural and Environmental Resources in Lindsay, Ontario. Both her father and grandfather were National Park Wardens, and so Crystal has had a keen interest in wildlife conservation from a very young age. She has done volunteer work at an Animal Sanctuary in NZ and a National Park, Muskellunge Rearing & Reintroduction facility and Humane Society in Canada. After spending a few years travelling around the globe, she is happy to be settled in London, working to protect the UK's bats!

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Xenia Snowman, Helpline Officer

Xenia first joined the Bat Conservation Trust in June 2008 as an intern, and now has a permanent position on the Helpline team. She has a Bachelors degree in Wildlife Conservation. For her honours project she chose to research the historical impacts that agricultural intensification has had on UK bat populations.  She has carried out conservation projects in Kenya and Uganda and has also done some survey work in Borneo, at the Danum Valley Research Centre, on a variety of taxa. Xenia spent a year volunteering for Shotover Wildlife, based on Shotover SSSI in Oxford, where she undertook survey work, habitat management and re-creation as part of management plans for the site, and was voted onto the committee. She also helped at many public events held on site to teach the public about the local wildlife and the importance of it. She has always been fascinated by wildlife, predominantly mammals and has had a particular interest in bats from a very early age. She is trained in bat rehabilitation and will start training for her bat licence this year. Xenia regularly goes on bat surveys, volunteers for the National Bat Monitoring Programme and has lead a number of bat walks.

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Zoe Tubbs, Helpline Officer

 Zoe completed a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation with Zoo Biology at Salford University, a Greater Manchester University, in 2009.  She has been hugely interested in wildlife from a very young age; no doubt exaggerated by coming into contact with many exotic species during her childhood spent in Indonesia.  Her particular interest lies with mammals (especially those with complex social structures) and Genetics. Zoe is new to the world of conservation work but is very excited to have her first permanent job be one that is in the field of conservation and particularly with such a fascinating mammal.

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Charlotte Wevill, Helpline Officer

Charlotte joined the BCT Helpline team in December 2010. She recently finished her Masters in Conservation, Ecology and Evolution at Imperial College. She loves all things conservation and has recently found an interest in bats! So as you can imagine she is really excited about getting stuck in at the BCT.

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Bea Ayling, Helpline Officer

Bea joined the Bat Conservation Trust in December 2010. She has a long standing interest in wildlife, especially bats, which influenced her decission to study Zoology (BSc) at UCL and to volunteer for various conservation organisations over the years. This included running bat walks for the London Wildlife Trust and helping on many bat surveys. She recently finished a Masters degree in Conservation and Biodiversity at the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus, in which she focussed on the use of lake-edge habitats by bats for her research project.

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David Urry, Part-time Helpline Officer

For as long as he can remember he has been fascinated with anything to do with the natural world which has lead him to do volunteering at home and abroad, including working with gibbons and macaques in Thailand,  bats in Honduras, and most recently, surveying  golden jackals in Greece. It was also the main reason he decided to study Biology at Oxford University.  He also has a strong interest in communication, especially film, and after recently graduating, concentrated on improving his film and editing ability via courses and volunteer work. It is his long term goal to combine his interest in film and passion for conservation for the natural world.

Training  

Helen Miller, Training Manager

Helen joined BCT in 2005 as part of the Bat Helpline team and is now currently our Training Manager. Helen's interest in bats began whilst studying Zoology at university, following a talk from a local bat expert. She then went on to study for a Masters in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, choosing to research the winter activity of the cape serotine bat (in South Africa).Helen is the membership secretary for Essex Bat Group and a member of Surrey bat group. She is also a licensed bat worker. 

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David Sutton, Training and Events Administrator

David joined the BCT Training team in November 2007.  His interest in the environment developed from many years of enjoying the fresh air of the South Downs.  He has an Honours degree in Conservation and several years voluntary experience around the UK.  David has previously worked for the National Trust, where he developed a keen interest in bats as a result of leading bat walks around the properties during the summer evenings.

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Count Bat

Dan Merrett, Count Bat Project Co-ordinator and the Regional Officer for the South and West of England

Dan has a background in bats and project work, having come to BCT from Bath & NE Somerset Council, where he was the council ecologist and previously ran the Batscapes project which engaged the public and landowners in the conservation of horseshoe bats. Dan got his first taste of bat work in 1999 as a ranger in Milton Keynes and went on to work with the Wildlife Trust, where he delivered school bat visits as part of a English Nature funded project. He was involved in the then newly-formed North Bucks Bat Group where he acheived the dubious distinction of being the first person to resign from their committee when he moved west, and now sits on the committee of the Avon Bat Group.

Tina Wiffen, Count Bat Regional Officer for the North and East of England

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Xavier Hamon, Count Bat Project Regional Officer for London and the South East

Xavier joined BCT in March 2010 as part of the Count Bat team and will work in the London and South East region. Native to France, Xavier worked previously as Director of Development for Agroof, an organisation involved in the research, development and promotion of agroforestry practices in France where he worked in different projects including biodiversity survey of ground beetles. Trees are important to bats for foraging and navigating and agroforestry practices contribute to the conservation of their habitats. Xavier has a masters in Agriculture and Environment and has experience in project management, training delivery, PR and field survey. Back in France, he can also enjoy pipistrelles flying around and feeding at the surface of the swimming pool … In England, it would be more likely to happen around the pond in his back garden!

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Bat Groups

Lisa Worledge, Partnerships Officer

Lisa started at BCT in May 2011.  Working with Anne and Steve, the Scottish and Welsh Bat Officers, her role is to support the local bat groups and share information between BCT and the local groups, as well working on joint projects with Partner Groups. Her interest in bats was first sparked by a bat walk with the Birmingham and Black Country Bat Group in 2008, she was so hooked she became the group’s Secretary later the same year.

This is Lisa’s second career having worked in the IT industry for 13 years. After completing a BSc in Ecology & Conservation (Hons) at Coventry University, Lisa worked as an ecologist for Land Care Associates (consultancy arm of the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust) and as the coordinator for the Warwickshire, Coventry & Solihull Local Biodiversity Action Plan Partnership. In her spare time Lisa is studying towards an MSc in Biological Recording with the University of Birmingham.

As the Partnerships Officer, Lisa is always looking for new ways to support and champion local bat group efforts, as well as identify potential projects to work with Partner Groups on. So please don't hesitate to get in touch with any queries, requests or ideas.

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Anne Youngman, Scottish Bat Officer

Anne is the Scottish Bat Officer for Bat Conservation Trust. Her interest in bats was first sparked by a talk from Bob Stebbings during her Environmental Science degree. His knowledge of bats and enthusiasm for the subject was so contagious she was hooked. Her work with the Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland and later Scottish Natural Heritage fed this interest further. During this time she was involved in giving bat advice to a range of audiences from householders, planners, developers, countryside rangers and vets.  Anne has been involved in bat conservation for nearly 20 years. She is a licensed bat worker, a bat worker trainer and member of Central Scotland Bat Group.  She happily roost–shared with pipistrelle bats before moving to take her current job. She is based in the attic of Scottish Churches House in Dunblane (when she is not flitting about over other parts of Scotland).

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Steve Lucas, Wales Bat Officer

For Steve, nature conservation is a second career having originally started out as medical laboratory scientist for 14 years before going to University to study Environmental Biology at Swansea.  After a successful degree, he went to work with the local Wildlife Trust working his way from reserve management to conservation officer before moving to the Countryside Council for Wales in 2001.  Whilst at CCW as a Regional Species Officer, Steve was seconded to  the Welsh Assembly Government for two years as a biodiversity officer overseeing species licensing as well as general biodiversity projects. During this he gained a post graduate diploma from Trinity College at Carmarthen.

Steve  has always had a passion for natural history - probably his upbringing in East Africa for 7 years!  Apart from bats, he has a  long standing interest in terrestrial invertebrate ecology so leps/bees/ants/wasps and even those eight-legged friends the spiders!  Now he  works with several bat groups in south Wales doing both summer / winter surveys and monitoring, and has also involved in the Bechsteins project.

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Communications; Marketing, Membership and Fundraising team

Heather McFarlane, Director of Marketing 

Heather came to BCT after working in science policy and communication. Her career has included chemistry research in Spain, working on publications for a stockbrokers in Australia and on education projects in Scotland. She joined BCT in August 2009 with a passion for bats having shared her garden with bats from a young age. Working in the communications team, Heather is always keen to hear interesting bat news to shout about so if you have any ideas please get in touch.

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Stephen (Teph) Ballard, Fundraising & Membership Officer

Teph is a graduate of Environmental Biology from the University of Wales Aberystwyth.  He has a strong passion for all things zoological with an added interest in all things botanical too and is in awe of the immense complex systems which interact this world. He was a member of a conservation society at university which involved several aspects from informing the public and raising funds and awareness to helping to reconstruct foot paths.  Expanding his knowledge of bats is his favourite aspect of working for BCT. 

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Roz Hutchinson, Trusts and Grants Fundraiser

 Roz came to BCT after a long career in advertising followed by a career in charity fundraising and communications.  Her career has included creating high profile advertising campaigns in the UK and Australia; raising more than a million pounds from charitable trusts for two charities and a stint as a consultant.  She joined BCT in 2010 with a passion for protecting wildlife both here and across the world.  Working in the fundraising team, she would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to make a donation or who can help in this area.

Shirley Thompson MBE, Hon. Education Officer

Shirley’s background is in teaching, first for many years in primary schools, then later in environmental education with the Kent Wildlife Trust and at outdoor field centres. She first became involved in bat conservation in 1983 as a founder member of the Kent Bat Group, when the protection of bats and their roosts was very new.

The lack of any material on bats suitable for children led her in 1987 to set up the Young Batworker’s Club and to produce the Young Batworker, funded by the Bat Group Support Fund. At the inauguration of the Bat Conservation Trust in 1990, the club became BCT’s junior section. Shirley was a Trustee of BCT at that time, and was made Honorary Education Officer, a post she still holds.  She is still editor of The Young Batworker, but is always being keen to promote education in is broadest sense, not as something confined to young people.

She is an active member of the Kent Bat Group, and a licenced roost visitor and trainer. However, she frequently points out that the longer you work with bats, the more your realise how little you know and how much there is still to learn. That’s what makes bat work so exciting!

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Finance/Administration

Hannah Rawnsley, PA to the CEO/ Fundraise Officer (Maternity cover)

Hannah has joined BCT for the summer as a Seasonal Helpline Officer and has now moved into this new role. She graduated from the University of Bristol in 2009 with a BSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. She has always been passionate about wildlife conservation and during her degree volunteered at a turtle conservation project in Costa Rica. After graduating she volunteered at the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) where she was involved with UK mammal conservation. During her time at the PTES she was introduced to bat conservation, and soon realized that she wanted the chance to learn more about these fascinating animals.

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Colin Money, Head of Finance and Office Services

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Jane Collett, Bookkeeper (Part-time)

Jane joined BCT in May 2010, working two days a week. Prior to this she had a career in the Civil Service (working for what is now the Office for National Statistics) and then worked in a number of paid and voluntary roles within charities, particularly in finance administration. Jane has a life-long interest in the natural world, and in recent years has started to develop this interest through part-time study at Birkbeck College London and through volunteering. She has a particular interest in mammals, and is excited to be working at BCT in an administrative capacity.

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