Communication, membership and fundraising

Andreia’s current role started in October 2015, though she had two earlier roles at BCT; as a Helpline intern and then as a Conference Admin Assistant, helping to prepare for BCT’s annual National Bat Conference.

A key part of her role is to encourage more people to appreciate and value bats and the importance of bat conservation. She does this in a number of ways which include encouraging more people to contribute to bat conservation financially or by donating their time.

Public engagement and communication are essential in wildlife conservation, particularly for those species that are unloved by some, underappreciated by many and often badly portrayed by the media. She also has a soft spot for birds and is a bird ringer.

Andreia did her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Lisbon and has an MSc in Wild Animal Biology from the Zoological Society of London/Royal Veterinary College.

Email Andreia: andreiacdc@bats.org.uk

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.

Shirley 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!

Nicola originally trained as an actor and after a decade pursuing an acting career went to Birkbeck College to study Philosophy, culminating in an MPhil. She started working in Fundraising at the Architectural Association, School of Architecture, where she also edited the first 15 issues of the newsletter magazine, AArchitecture. More recently she was the fundraising Officer at the London Irish Centre in Camden.

Nicola has always been passionate about wildlife and besides bats has a particular interest in sloths.

Favourite bat species: Grey Long-eared bat

Email Nicola: nquinn@bats.org.uk

Alex joined BCT in 2020. She works part time with the marketing and communications team on promoting, campaigning, defending and educating about bats to a wide range of audiences. This role means working across BCT and supporting the media, the public and the work of our members & supporters, bat carers, bat groups, professional bat workers and policy makers, to share important messages and tackle misinformation.

Outside of BCT, Alex is a mum, naturalist and author of children’s science books. She has worked for 20 years as an ecologist and also led environmental campaigns, conservation outreach, and done some teaching. Alex has also worked as a journalist for many years. She has degrees, postgrads & other qualifications in biology, environmental science, ecology, biological recording, teaching, law and journalism.

Email Alex: amorss@bats.org.uk

Naomi took on the role of Education and Engagement Officer in 2022. Naomi supports a variety of education and engagement activities across BCT’s projects as well as leading on our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) activities. Prior to joining BCT, Naomi developed her experience in EDI working for the Wellcome Trust on a project to upskill youth workers engaging with disadvantaged young people. She also spent 10 years working in conservation education for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust at Jersey Zoo, where she led formal and informal education activities as well as a variety of engagement activities including the EU-funded revamp of the Reptile House interpretation, developing Durrell’s version of “I’m a conservationist” and even producing a number of wildlife-themed pantomimes. Naomi is also BCT’s Training and Conferences Manager.

Email Naomi: nwebster@bats.org.uk

Claire joined the BCT in May 2023. Before this she led communications for a sustainability centre at the University of Sheffield. Her focus there was to upskill PhD researchers with the confidence and know-how to talk persuasively about their findings. Readability, accessibility and nerding out about analytics are the core of Claire’s comms work.

Raised on a council estate, Claire’s early contact with nature took the form of an ancient hazel tree in her garden. She spent much time climbing up and falling out of that lovely tree. After leaving home, she studied philosophy at UCL, and then went to live in Brighton. Her route into environmental communications was a bit crooked: she’s been a kitchen hand, milliner’s assistant and bookseller. It was while studying for an anthropology MA that Claire got a job making a website for one of her professors. To her delight, she found that her love of creative writing and diverse work experience made her well suited to comms. Around the same time, she moved to Sheffield, where, surrounded by that city’s old trees, five rivers and mossy stone walls, she realized how nature-depleted her life had been. And it was in Sheffield she had her first close encounter with bats, finding them flying about her garden before taking roost in her heart.

Email Claire: cmoran@bats.org.uk