My passion for wildlife started from a pretty young age. I definitely remember getting told off for bringing in a tic-tac box full of woodlice in primary school. I used my mums nail varnish for a snail mark-release-recapture experiment in my back garden, and I’ve never really stopped being weird about wildlife!

In university I studied ecology and fell in love with parasites, which sounds bizarre, but parasites have a huge impact on food chains and eco-systems. I went on to pursue a PhD in seabird parasites and pathogens. I’m interested in how parasites and pathogens affect wild animal populations and how that may change with our changing climate and how that may affect humans too.

My role involves getting people excited about wildlife and helping them to take action to conserve it. I’m very new to the Trust but I’m excited to help communities to take positive action for nature. One of the things I have been most excited about so far is the opportunities to learn from my team, the community and from biodiversity experts.