Experience

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT)

• United Kingdom
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Conservation Strategy Director

  • Apr 2019 - Present

  I lead BBOWT’s conservation efforts in the wider countryside beyond our nature reserves, leading the delivery of a range of innovative conservation programmes for wildlife in local British landscapes. This includes undertaking activities such as monitoring and managing our Living Landscapes, and working with planners, developers, companies and private landowners to achieve positive outcomes for wildlife. I lead BBOWT’s conservation efforts in the wider countryside beyond our nature reserves, leading the delivery of a range of innovative conservation programmes for wildlife in local British landscapes. This includes undertaking activities such as monitoring and managing our Living Landscapes, and working with planners, developers, companies and private landowners to achieve positive outcomes for wildlife.



Conservation Science and Practice

• Associate Editor

  • Jul 2019 - Present

  Part of the Editorial Board who oversee the peer review process and journal development of the Society for Conservation Biology's newest journal, Conservation Science and Practice. Part of the Editorial Board who oversee the peer review process and journal development of the Society for Conservation Biology's newest journal, Conservation Science and Practice.



Ecological Solutions and Evidence

• Associate Editor

  • Nov 2019 - Present

  Part of the Editorial Board who oversee the peer review process and journal development of the British Ecological Society's newest journal, Ecological Solutions and Evidence. Part of the Editorial Board who oversee the peer review process and journal development of the British Ecological Society's newest journal, Ecological Solutions and Evidence.



University of Oxford

• United Kingdom
• Research Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Associate

  • Mar 2019 - Present

  I am a Research Associate with the Department of Biology and Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, collaborating on a number of applied conservation research projects.

• Knowledge Exchange & Research Fellow

  • Jan 2016 - Mar 2019

  Lead academic researcher who worked closely with multinational businesses, government agencies and NGOs bringing lessons from conservation science to help mainstream biodiversity in the private sector. My work focused on corporate biodiversity accountability in particular, helping businesses develop systems to measure, evaluate and report on their biodiversity performance.I led the development of academic partnerships with businesses, government agencies and NGOs; undertook applied research projects with businesses, governments and NGOs; facilitated multi-stakeholder meetings & workshops; presented collaborative outputs at international workshops & conferences; and, wrote policy briefings & peer-review science papers.You can find out more about my Knowledge Exchange fellowship here: https://www.iccs.org.uk/content/business-and-biodiversity



Australian Institute of Marine Science

• Australia
• Research Services
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Decision Scientist)

  • Sep 2014 - Dec 2015

  Lead researcher developing decision-making tools to support the integration of scientific evidence into marine protected area management; lead facilitator for multi-stakeholder workshops; and, lead author of peer-review papers; and, presenter at international conservation conferences.I was the principle investigator for a project funded by the NESP Tropical Water Quality Hub, “Towards an integrated monitoring program: identifying indicators and existing monitoring programs to cost-effectively evaluate the Long Term Sustainability Plan”. You can see the project outputs here: http://nesptropical.edu.au/index.php/research/projects/project-3-8/I also was the lead researcher for a project for the Australian Department of the Environment, "The cost-effectiveness protocol used to assist in the prioritisation of the second phase of Reef Trust investment". You can see the project output here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280940374_Summary_report_the_cost-effectiveness_protocol_used_to_assist_in_the_prioritisation_of_the_second_phase_of_Reef_Trust_investment_Final_Report_to_the_Department_of_the_Environment



University of Melbourne

• Australia
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• PhD

  • Feb 2011 - Jul 2014

  Thesis title: Targeting the science–management interface: Improving the use of long-term monitoring for conservation management.Supervisors: Dr. Jan Carey, Dr. Louisa Flander and Prof. Mark Burgman.Scholarships: Australian Postgraduate Award, and research support from Parks Victoria, the NERP Marine Biodiversity Research Hub and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (UK).PhD research summary:Conservation managers are commonly criticised for failing to make full use of long-term monitoring results to inform conservation management. In reality these criticisms fall on both sides of the science–management interface. My research spans both sides of this interface, where I explore how both scientists and managers can improve their practice.My research focuses on marine protected area (MPA) management, as there are now many long-term monitoring programs associated with MPAs around the globe available to inform MPA management. I investigate how long-term monitoring data are used to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation management approaches, and whether they are used to inform evidence-based management of MPAs.I answer two key questions: i) what are the current challenges to the use of long-term monitoring in conservation management decisions? and ii) what practical solutions can help improve the use of long-term monitoring in conservation management decisions? The practical solutions that I develop draw heavily on other fields of research, such as decision science and statistical process control. I demonstrate how techniques from these fields can be effectively adapted, and help improve the use of science in conservation management.Through my PhD research I have developed skills in decision science, qualitative (social) research, workshop facilitation, participatory modelling, and statistical modelling.

• Guest lecturer, demonstrator and workshop facilitator

  • Jul 2012 - May 2014

  Key responsibilities: Delivering guest lectures for Problem Solving in Environmental Science and demonstrating for Ecology (third and second year undergraduate subjects for the Bachelor of Science respectively); and, co-facilitating a number of workshops involving conservation decision-makers, scientists and stakeholders.



Environment Agency

• United Kingdom
• Environmental Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Technical Specialist (Marine Biologist)

  • 2008 - 2010

  Key responsibilities: Developing quality assurance protocols for national marine biological monitoring programs; overseeing the data management of UK wide environmental datasets; statistical analysis of large environmental datasets; facilitating national scientific workshops; delivering oral presentations to government and academic audiences; preparing national guidance documents; and, website design and maintenance. Key responsibilities: Developing quality assurance protocols for national marine biological monitoring programs; overseeing the data management of UK wide environmental datasets; statistical analysis of large environmental datasets; facilitating national scientific workshops; delivering oral presentations to government and academic audiences; preparing national guidance documents; and, website design and maintenance.



Museums Victoria

• Australia
• Museums, Historical Sites, and Zoos
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Project Officer (Marine Ecologist)

  • 2005 - 2007

  Project: Monitoring and Assessment of Victoria’s Rocky Intertidal Coast (MAVRIC)Key responsibilities: designing and conducting large-scale marine ecological monitoring programs; data management of large environmental datasets; univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of state-wide environmental datasets; writing peer-review publications and technical reports; and, delivering oral presentations to scientific audiences. Project: Monitoring and Assessment of Victoria’s Rocky Intertidal Coast (MAVRIC)Key responsibilities: designing and conducting large-scale marine ecological monitoring programs; data management of large environmental datasets; univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of state-wide environmental datasets; writing peer-review publications and technical reports; and, delivering oral presentations to scientific audiences.



Consulting Environmental Engineers

• Environmental Consultant (Marine Ecologist)

  • 2003 - 2005

  Key responsibilities: designing and conducting marine environmental impact surveys; univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of environmental datasets; and, preparing reports (e.g., environmental impact assessments, existing condition reports and scoping reports). Key responsibilities: designing and conducting marine environmental impact surveys; univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of environmental datasets; and, preparing reports (e.g., environmental impact assessments, existing condition reports and scoping reports).



Melbourne Aquarium

• Fisheries
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Education Officer

  • 2001 - 2004

  Key responsibilities: teaching educational programs to primary and secondary school groups and delivering public presentations about the marine environment. Key responsibilities: teaching educational programs to primary and secondary school groups and delivering public presentations about the marine environment.