Staff
Below are some of our dedicated ecologists that you may meet whilst working with us...
John Poland CEnv MCIEEM CBiol MRSB
Principal Ecologist
John is an accomplished ecologist with over 20 years experience specialising in protected species and habitat issues relating to planning policy and nature conservation legislation.
John recognises the real issues faced by our clients and successfully harmonises wildlife and development to everyone’s benefit. He is a multi-species licence holder and also leads regular training courses for ecologists and developers. As well as overseeing the company strategies, John continues to work with architects, planners and engineers to ensure a “win-win” situation is achieved on all projects.
Outside work, John is best known for writing the highly acclaimed and award-winning Vegetative Key to the British Flora – a book which has made year-round botanical surveys possible at last!
Victoria Russell MCIEEM
Senior Ecologist
Victoria has over 24 years consultancy experience and was a founder employee of one of the UK’s largest ecological consultancies.
Transferring her skills to a smaller practice has brought a wealth of benefits for all our clients. In addition to designing numerous mitigation schemes for protected species and writing ecology chapters for EIA, Victoria specialises in BREEAM and has achieved a number of ‘Outstanding’ ratings – a fact that has not gone unrecognised by our clients! Victoria ensures projects are completed on time – and on budget.
Nicola Pyle MCIEEM
Senior Ecologist
Nicola has over 13 years of experience in ecological consultancy, the majority held within a large multi-disciplinary engineering firm. She has a specialist knowledge of bats with expertise in various survey techniques. Nicola also carries out voluntary work with bats in her spare time, including being an active committee member of the Hampshire Bat Group and caring for rescued bats!
Nicola also holds survey licences for dormice and great crested newts. She has written and overseen the implementation of a number of EPS licences for development sites, ensuring work is completed correctly and on time.
Nicola is a Suitably Qualified Ecologist (SQE) for carrying out BREEAM assessments and carries out many of our extended Phase 1 Habitat Surveys.
Calum Cooper BSc (Hons) GradCIEEM
Ecologist
Calum has over four years of post-qualification experience in ecological consultancy, having joined Hampshire Ecological Services in 2015 as an intern ecologist. He progressed to become a full-time ecologist in 2016 after graduating with an Ecology and Conservation Management degree from Sparsholt.
Calum undertakes surveys for a range of protected species including bats, dormice, reptiles, badgers and great crested newts as well as preliminary ecological appraisals. He writes, reviews and contributes to habitat/ protected species reports and licences, works on bespoke mitigation solutions for individual projects, and also carries out ecological-clerk-of-works to supervise and guide the completion of mitigation and enhancements. Calum also undertakes much of our CAD/GIS design work.
Chloe Mockridge MSc GradCIEEM
Ecologist
Chloe joined Hampshire Ecological Services in 2018 after having obtained a bachelors degree in Zoology and a masters degree in Environmental Biology: Conservation and Resource Management at Swansea University.
Chloe undertakes a range of site assessments including extended Phase 1 Habitat Surveys along with bat, reptile, dormouse and great crested newt surveys. She continues to develop her botanical skills beyond what is typically required for her job. Chloe also supervises site staff on our ecological-clerk-of-works projects ensuring mitigation work is completed to a high standard and saving clients money on retro-fitting.
Andy Lomas MSc
Ecologist
Andy joined Hampshire Ecological Services in 2020 from a site supervisory role after graduating from the University of Exeter in 2017 with an in MSc in Evolutionary & Behavioural Ecology.
Andy often leads in our Ecological Clerk-of-Works roles and undertakes a range of surveys including bat, great crested newt, dormouse, reptile and preliminary ecological assessments.
Darla Brown
Assistant Ecologist
Ellie Welch
Assistant Ecologist
Additional Staff
We also have a dedicated team of experienced and qualified ecologists who are re-employed each year to assist with our fieldwork and admin during peak times. Our highly trained support team have a wealth of knowledge and capability to work with the range of protected species encountered on our projects. Again, all staff adhere fully to CIEEM’s Code of Professional Conduct.
Since 2010, we’ve also offered an in-house training programme for the best graduates to shadow existing ecologists to learn how surveys are completed to a professional standard. We’re pleased that our assistant ecologists have gone on to successful careers within our organisation in addition to Natural England, the consultancy sector and local authorities. We frequently encounter them in their current roles!