Fishing was always my big passion. Growing up in the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire countryside, I spent much of my teenage years by a lake or along the banks of a river. I wasn't particularly successful at catching fish, but the hours spent trying led me to develop a real love of the countryside and wildlife.
A thirst for knowledge
I studied Zoology at Aberystwyth University focusing mostly on freshwater and marine biology. It wasn't long after I'd graduated that I discovered opportunities in these fields were disappointingly hard to come by.
Starting out
Fortunately, I secured a role as a botanical surveyor with the then Somerset Trust for Nature Conservation, setting up the county’s first biological records centre. As well as being a job that I really loved, it gave me a really good grounding in plant identification. Later on, I was able to develop these skills as a member of the Botanical Society of the British Isles and recording for the Herefordshire Botanical Society.
Opportunity comes knocking
My career with the Trust began in 1987 when I was employed to write management plans.