Who I am
My name is Cat and I’m a mature student studying Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science BSc (Hons) at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol. I’m also a mum of three young adults, I have an allotment, enjoy reading and listening to music, and especially love going to music festivals. I like collecting nature-related oddities, poking ‘creepy-crawlies’, and sometimes I pretend I am artistic.
If you asked me what my specific area of interest was in I would say invertebrates, but really I am a bit of a ‘jack of all trades’ and I like to dip my toe into everything, though I’m increasingly being drawn to urban ecology.
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More about me:
Volunteering:
- Bristol Zoo Gardens – Invertebrate Department (2010-2015)
- Amphibian and Reptile Conservation – Fishponds Toad Patrol (2018, 2019, ongoing annually)
- Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution – Entomology (2018 – present)
- Bristol Avon Rivers Trust/Riverfly Partnership – Riverfly Monitor (2018 – present)
- Bristol Festival of Nature – Production Team and Engagement Team (June 2019)
- Greater Bristol Otter Group – Otter surveyor (2019)
- Bristol Nature Network – UWE Representative (2018 – present)
- UWE Wildlife and Environment Society – Health and Safety Rep and First Aid (2019- 2020)
- UWE Wildlife and Environment Society – President (2020- 2021)
- Stoke Park Woodland Restoration (with Steve England) (October 2019 – February 2020)
- UWE Hedgehog Friendly Campus – Student rep (2019 – present)
- Summer interniship with UWE Bat Conservation Research Lab 2020
Courses and Events:
- An Introduction to Entomology (Avon Wildlife Trust) – May 2017
- Surveying for Hedgehogs (Sustrans) – April 2019
- Owl Pellet Dissection (Bristol Nature Network) – May 2019
- Surveying for Glow Worms (Bristol Nature Network) – Aug 2019 (event organised and led by me)
- Bat Walk with Steve England (Natural England) x 3 – May 2019
- Otter Survey Training (Living Levels Partnership) – May 2019
- BART Riverfly training (May 2018) and refresher training session and AGM – June 2019
- British Ecological Society Undergraduate Summer School – July 2019
- Phasmid Study Group Bi-annual Lectures and AGM – Summer/Winter 2011-2018
- British Tarantula Society Annual Lectures – February 2012-2020
- University Moth Challenge – April-July 2019
- Hedge Laying – Friends of Yate Common (with Matthew Lipton of S. Glos. Council) – Jan/Feb 2020
- What feels like thousands of relevant webinars during the COVID-19 pandemic
Society Memberships Held:
- Phasmid Study Group
- British Tarantula Society
- UWE Wildlife and Environment Society
- Butterfly Conservation
- British Ecological Society (student membership)
- Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (student membership)
- British Entomological and Natural History Society (student membership)
- Bristol Naturalists’ Society (student membership)
- The Mammal Society
- Gwent Wildlife Trust
- The Coleopterist
- Avon Bat Group
Student Ecologist - Bristol 