Background

I am an affiliated lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences of the University of Cambridge and also the Director of an ecological research consultancy.  I worked for ITE and CEH between 1990 and 2009 and specialised in studies of the determinants of the distribution and abundance of species in relation to the climate. I managed the Countryside Survey field campaign in 2007 and was the lead author on the reports that followed and am well known across Europe for work on the evaluation of agri-environment schemes. I have been studying the Lizard Orchid in populations throughout England for 20 years in an attempt to understand the limits on a species at its northern range edge. I was a BES Council member between 2007 and 2010 and was interim Chair of the Public and Policy Committee in 2009 and 2010.  In the past I have been Chair and Deputy Chair of the Cambridge Conservation Forum.