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Meet the Team...
Niamh is a Senior Scientist within GWCT’s Farmland Ecology Department and is responsible for day-to-day running of the project. She has managed and delivered projects on Agri-environment Scheme habitat use, considering a wide range of taxa such as pollinators, passerines and bats. She holds an “A” bird ringing licence with an endorsement to monitor Barn Owl nests.
Chris is an avian ecologist within the GWCT’s Wetland Department. He has ten years of professional experience as an ornithologist and completed his PhD on Woodcock in 2019. He is licenced to monitor Barn Owl nest boxes and ring adult owls and their chicks. His lifelong interest in birds has taken him from the deserts of South Africa to remote islands of the Hebrides, but originates on the family farm in the Yorkshire Wolds.
Jodie has recently joined GWCT’s Farmland Ecology Department as a Research Assistant for the Owl Box Initiative. She is a trainee bird ringer and during her time at GWCT she has been involved in wader conservation, mammalian predation research and farmer liaison through the Avon Valley’s LIFE Waders for Real project. She has also assisted the co-delivery of Cranborne Chase AONB’s Environmental Land Management Scheme Test and Trial.
Jodie Case
Research and Communications Assistant
Dr Chris Heward
Project Fieldwork Manager
Dr Niamh McHugh
Project Manager
Ellie Ness
Research Assistant
Ellie is a Research Assistant within GWCT’s Farmland Ecology Department having returned to the Trust after a year as a placement student. Ellie is one of the youngest bird ringing trainers in the country and has an “A” ringing licence with an endorsement to monitor Barn Owls.
Dr. Simon Lane
Volunteer Ornithologist
Simon first started bird ringing at school and still has the same enthusiasm fifty years later. He has a keen interest in raptors and owls and has been involved with the Salisbury Plain group for the last twenty years. He remembers spending many hours, as a child, watching Barn Owls hunting in nearby fields and has witnessed the dramatic decline and subsequent revival of this species. He is very pleased to be able to contribute to this project.
Ryan Burrell
Volunteer Ornithologist
Ryan is studying for a PhD with GWCT and Bournemouth University, investigating the impact of avian predators on breeding waders. He has been involved in the monitoring of Peregrine Falcons, Buzzards and Goshawks at sites in southern England. Along with farmer cluster facilitators, Ryan helped establish the existing network of Barn owl boxes across the Martin Down, Allenford and Avon Valley farmer clusters.
Matt Prior
Volunteer Ornithologist
A passionate farmland bird conservationist and experienced bird ringing trainer. Matt helped set up the network of Barn Owl nest boxes on the Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement area and has over 20 years of experience in Barn Owl monitoring.