Some of my earliest memories are of family walks in the New Forest; watching dragonflies zipping over small ponds; almost stepping on a grass snake basking on the path and desperately trying to spot deer my dad had seen in this distance, often without success. I now realise how fortunate I was to have had these encounters in my formative years, fuelling my love of nature and my eventual understanding of the need to conserve it.  Â
After studying Wildlife Management at Sparsholt College, I volunteered for Hampshire Wildlife Trust and Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, spending 18 months with the latter working as a Conservation Trainee and Seasonal Warden. Undoubtedly one of the best experiences of my life, not least because it is where I met my Geordie wife who would introduce me to this beautiful part of the country.  More recently I have worked for Northumberland Wildlife Trust as a Red Squirrels Northern England, Ranger. It has been a pleasure to have spent the past few years looking after one of Britain’s most threatened mammals, the red squirrel.  2020 was a year with very few positives but one for me was a noticeable increase in the number of red squirrels in the areas where I had been working. To encounter red squirrel in a woodland where they have not been for several years, is one of the most rewarding sights! Leaving this role was not an easy decision, however the chance to be a part of Naturally Native, conserving another of Britain’s most threatened mammals: the water vole, was an opportunity not to be missed.Â