Environmental Consultancy

The Trust has recently established a Consultancy Team to manage and deliver a wide range of projects liasing with other Trust Teams and staff as necessary.

The core members of the Trust’s Consultancy Team are Craig Stenson, Consultancy Manager, and Mary Wood, Senior Ecologist.

In addition to the core Consultancy Team, we are supported by the wider team of the Trust’s staff, placements and volunteers (see Ellie's story below)

We also have links with a wide range of ecological specialists in the area who can supplement our expertise as necessary enabling us to provide joined up services across a range of disciplines.

We offer a wide range of services including:

• Specialist ecological surveys;

• Protected species advice;

• Preparation of management plans; and

• Habitat design and creation advice.

We are also able to take on unique projects which require a combination of skills for example a working understanding of the planning system, financial expertise and stakeholder management. An excellent example of this is our current work on the West of England Green Infrastructure Project in partnership with the Forest of Avon.

For further information email Craig Stenson, Consultancy Manager or Mary Wood, Senior Ecologist.

What is Green Infrastructure?

Our Green Infrastructure work looks at the best ways of incorporating green spaces into new developments and securing mitigation for existing developments through wider countryside projects.

For further information: see the Green Infrastructure West website

Ellie at work

Making a difference

We’re always delighted when we learn how being involved with the Trust has made a difference to people! Ellie Phillips needed some practical experience to help her find work in conservation after she graduated, and has been a volunteer for the past six months.

“I began my life at the Trust as part of the Biodiversity Team, where I had the chance to survey everything from bat and dormouse habitats on the Mendips to amphibian habitats in North Somerset. The best thing about being part of the Biodiversity Team has been working alongside people with such extensive expertise. Everyone always finds time to share their knowledge and as a result I’ve gained a wide range of skills, from surveying for white clawed crayfish to identifying otter field signs; I don’t know where else I would have obtained such broad experience.

I have recently swapped teams, into the Trust’s new Consultancy Team. Here the work is just as varied. One week I might be carrying out botany surveys in peaceful nature reserves, the next I might be hunting for great crested newts and water voles in the middle of Avonmouth. It’s amazing and encouraging to find biodiversity clinging on even in the most industrial of places. In addition to field experience, working as part of the Consultancy Team has given me the opportunity to gain more office-based skills; assisting with Higher Level Stewardship applications and learning how to write management plans has been fantastic practise for the future. It’s very interesting to watch the new consultancy get off the ground, and I’ve been lucky enough to sit in a few meetings, allowing me to gain an appreciation of how projects are managed from start to finish.

What I most enjoy about being a volunteer at the Trust is that I’m always learning – the changing seasons bring in different work and new opportunities, and it’s exciting to find that every site I visit is different from the last in some way. Getting involved with the Wildlife Trust has given me so many opportunities; I’m now a member of the North Somerset Otter Group, and I recently went on a bat detector workshop with the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

Getting a job in conservation is very competitive; it might be easy to get disheartened and look for another career. But it only takes a day in the field to remind me that nothing else would compare. Volunteering has opened up so many doors to me; I’m so grateful to the Trust and I would recommend a placement to anyone.”

For further information about placements check the volunteer vacancies here