Current Appointments:
British Trust for Ornithology - Trustee
British Trust for Ornithology - Chair of Ringing Committee
RSK/BioCensus - Principal Ornithologist
Ringing and Migration - Associate Editor
Severnside Bird Ringing & Research Group
British Ornithologists’ Union - Scientific Programme Committee - Avian Disease Ecology (2027)
Natural England Twite Recovery Steering Group
Bird Survey and Assessment Steering Group
- Consulting -
Alongside my academic research, I am interested in evidence-based methods for bird survey design and data assessment. I have developed technical guidance and modeling approaches for industry and have supported academic placements with commercial funding. I run a start-up that helps commercial and NGO clients design and resource scientifically robust ornithological surveys and assessments.
Bird Survey and Assessment Steering Group: Most ornithological consultancy work prior to 2018 relied on the BTO’s Common Bird Census (CBC), a method designed to monitor breeding birds at a national scale through repeated visits to farmland and woodland. However, this approach is poorly suited to commercial surveys, which need to quantify bird use of specific sites over fewer visits and account for a broader range of behaviors, including site use by birds nesting elsewhere. In 2016, I co-authored new commercial guidance addressing these challenges. Published in 2018, this guidance has become the industry standard. I continue to serve on the steering group overseeing its development. Through this work, I have supervised several academic projects evaluating the effectiveness of established survey methods — for example, determining how many surveys are needed quantify an assemblage, or using BTO open data to assess site importance for birds. I have also contributed to the CIEEM competency framework for ornithology, a desk-study tool using BTO data, and authored technical notes on specific survey methodologies. I am currently working on an assessment tool for wild bird Ecological Impact Assessment, to support planning and conservation decision making.
Skopeo: The Ornithology Network: I founded Skopeo with my partner in 2021 as a spin-out from my work developing the 2018 survey guidance. We created Skopeo to address an ongoing industry need for specialist, sustainable approaches to ornithological survey design and data interpretation - we beleive that wild bird impact assessment is inherently a conservation measure, and should be impartial to development pressure. Our model uses competent, local bird surveyors for data collection while we work directly with clients on survey design, data assessment, and extension modeling (such as collision risk analysis etc.). We are focussed on community, and good, evidence based practice - evidenced by our contribution to what has become the industry standard for bird surveys, desk study and competency. Our clients range from regional ecological consultants to global engineering firms, NGOs, and statutory nature conservation bodies (SNCBs). This diversity means our work is equally varied—from conservation baselines and species-specific monitoring to supporting onshore and offshore sustainable development, and informing mitigation, compensation, and habitat enhancement strategies for birds.