Biodiversity

Jan Collins, Head of Biodiversity

Jan Collins, Head of Biodiversity

Jan’s first exposure to bats was in 1999, mist netting and harp trapping bats in Vietnam as part of a biodiversity survey. She was struck by how different bats are from other mammals and by the diversity in species worldwide (and, indeed, the challenges they face!) so joined her Local Bat Group immediately upon returning to the UK. Bats soon turned into a career. Jan’s professional experience is primarily as an ecological consultant specialising in bats, but she also has experience in Environmental Records Centre and Local Planning Authority work. Within her consultancy roles she has provided surveys and advice covering a range of industries, including property and construction, commercial and retail, government, transport, energy and nature conservation. In her latter years as a consultant Jan specialised in bats and wind farms, including an MSc research project on surveying for bats at height and various wind farm development projects in the UK and abroad. Jan is a full member of CIEEM, a Chartered Ecologist, holds a Natural England bat survey licence and is a member of Kent Bat Group.

Email Jan: jcollins@bats.org.uk

Dr Carol Williams, Special Advisor

Dr Carol Williams, Special Advisor

From 2007 to 2010 Carol worked for BCT as the first Built Environment Project officer, whilst on secondment from Natural England. In July 2011 Carol returned to BCT, this time in the role of Woodland Officer; a role in which she remained until 2012 when she became Director of Conservation. Carol has thoroughly enjoyed working at Director level with such a dynamic and dedicated team. Seeing BCT grow and deliver so much for bats, biodiversity and people has been a real privilege. After 11 years Carol has now semi-retired and since July 2023 taken on the part-time role of Specialist Advisor where her passion for all that BCT represents is still supporting delivery of key strategic areas of work.

Carol has been involved in bat conservation for over 30 years and carried out a PhD on the winter ecology of lesser horseshoe bats. She is a member of the Cornwall Bat Group and also the Isles of Scilly Bat Group and carries out a range of NBMP surveys each year. She is a chartered biologist.

Jo Ferguson, Built Environment Manager

Jo Ferguson, Built Environment Manager

Jo joined the Bat Conservation Trust in April 2015 as the Built Environment Officer and became the Built Environment Manager in early 2019. She has been involved with bat conservation in a voluntary and professional capacity for over 15 years. Jo first became involved during a year’s placement with the Wildlife Trusts in West Wales in 2003. She was introduced during that time to bat survey equipment and monitoring techniques for some of the UK’s rarest species; barbastelle and both lesser and greater horseshoe bats. After experiencing these completely unique mammals at close quarters, she was hooked!

Many years of volunteering with various bat groups followed as she finished her degree in Zoology and gained Natural England bat licences for roost visits and surveys. Jo’s more recent professional experience is as an ecological consultant specialising in bats; providing surveys and advice covering a range of development projects, including residential, commercial and transport, for private, public and government bodies. However, she also has extensive experience in the conservation and scientific research sectors. When living in Melbourne for eighteen months, Jo used her bat survey skills to help run the micro-bats trapping and radio-tracking project in the botanic gardens with volunteers from Earthwatch. Her most exciting work however had to be surveying abandoned goldmines in Victoria for rare bentwing bats and finding when doing so, the occasional wombat!

Her passion for the importance of promoting biodiversity in the urban environment and public engagement is what she brings to this role. Jo is a full member of CIEEM and is a member of London Bat Group.

Email Jo: jferguson@bats.org.uk

Katie Swift, Built Environment Project Officer

Katie has been fascinated by bats from a very young age. It was this fascination that gave her direction, steering her journey to an education in Ecology and an MSc in Conservation Management.

Katie is a very proud bat carer and is privileged to have been involved in many successful, challenging and interesting rescues in her 15 plus years working with bats. Starting her early career as an ecological consultant specialising in bats, Katie holds Natural England bat licenses for roost visits and surveys, is an active VBRV and has a broad range of bat surveying experience. Keen to contribute to our understanding of these fascinating animals and be involved in inspiring future conservationists. Katie went on to complete a PGCE, currently lecturing in ecology, Katie is delighted to be part of the Bat Conservation Trust.

Email Katie: kswift@bats.org.uk

Sonia Reveley, Woodland Specialist

Sonia Reveley, Woodland Specialist

Sonia joined BCT in March 2016 as the Volunteer Coordinator working on a Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) project based at Swanton Novers National Nature Reserve (NNR). Back in 2017 Sonia took on the role of BCT’s Woodland Officer, and has continued to raise awareness of bats and their use of woodlands in the UK.

Sonia first became interested in bats in 2011, when she got involved with the Norfolk Barbastelle Study Group (NBSG). Since then she has continued to assist the group with various surveys around Norfolk’s woodlands and completed her MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation from the University of East Anglia. Sonia then worked as a Research Assistant on the Management of Bats in Churches project and as a Project Officer for Norfolk Wild Nights, delivering nocturnal events in rural Norfolk, using churches as hubs. Sonia also has a Level 2 Class survey licence.

Email Sonia: sreveley@bats.org.uk

Lil McDermaid, Species Advocacy & Policy Officer

Lil McDermaid, Species Advocacy & Policy Officer

Lil joined BCT in September 2022 to work on policy and advocacy, after having worked on environmental planning policy in central government. They are quite new to the world of bats, having instead previously worked on a whole host of environmental topics including ancient woodland, biodiversity in planning, climate change, environmental principles and more. Lil once planned to be an artist, then planned to be a solicitor but, after completing a law with psychology degree, instead decided to follow a passion for the environment!

Lil is currently undertaking an MSc course on environmental studies and hopes to maybe even study some bat-related topics. Outside of work, Lil built up some experience with campaigns through student advocacy, illustrating and writing articles to provoke thought on different topics including environmental awareness and social justice.

Email Lil: lmcdermaid@bats.org.uk

Mark Goulding, Wildlife Crime Project Officer

Mark Goulding, Wildlife Crime Project Officer

Mark has served 32 years for Queen and Country, both in the military and South Wales Police. For the last twenty-two years he has held frontline police operational posts alongside his Wildlife crime role. Mark was on a full-time three-year secondment to Natural Resources Wales as a Wildlife Crime officer and South Wales Police wildlife crime coordinator. He was awarded the Wildlife crime Enforcer of the year award in 2015 sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund for this work.

Mark has investigated a broad range of Wildlife crime offences against species and habitats from Bats to primates, plants to protecting sites of special scientific interest.

He has given advice, guidance and training to, members of the public, Police officers, statutory bodies, NGOs and been on various National delivery groups relating to Wildlife Crime Enforcement.

Mark’s strength lies in the practical application of legislation and the real time investigation of offences. BCT benefits from those skills whilst the essential ecological expertise will be found among other BCT staff, bat groups and bat workers.

Mark's priority is to reduce wildlife crime offending, whilst securing compliance with the law among those who might otherwise commit offences.

Email: investigations@bats.org.uk

Rhian Minter-Owen, Biodiversity Projects Assistant

Rhian Minter-Owen, Biodiversity Projects Assistant

Rhian joined BCT in January 2024 as the Biodiversity Projects Assistant.

She has always been interested in wildlife conservation and enjoyed watching bats in the garden as a child. In 2016, Rhian graduated with BSc Zoology and started a career in ecological consultancy as a field surveyor and then as an assistant ecologist where her fascination with bats continued to grow.

She went onto complete a masters in Conservation and International Wildlife Trade, with her thesis focussing on the impacts of social media on the illegal pet trade. This led her to pursue an interest in science communications, volunteering for several NGOs, eventually securing a social media internship within an international environmental NGO.

Outside of work, Rhian is a keen landscapes and wildlife photographer. Her passion for wildlife conservation and protection of unique species like bats has led her to the bat conservation trust.

Email Rhian: rminter-owen@bats.org.uk

Next: Conservation