Alasdair joined UES in 2019 as an Ecologist after working as a Warden for the RSPB for 9 years. Whilst working in the conservation sector, he gained a wealth of hands-on experience surveying and monitoring a wide variety of taxa. His key role was managing the reserve to maintain and create suitable habitat for threatened species, and to survey and monitor their progress. His work involved working closely with protected species such as schedule 1 birds, protected mammals and threatened invertebrates.
Alasdair has also worked as a remote cameraman for BBC Springwatch for the past 9 years. He is responsible for locating nests and other features to film, installing remote camera systems in-situ, and then filming the result.
In his current role, Alasdair takes the lead on ornithological work as well as conducting a wide variety of other ecological surveys and preparing a variety of reports, planning documents and protected species licences.
Alasdair is an experienced field surveyor and holds survey licences for barn owls, bats and great crested newts in England, Wales and Scotland, which allows him to legally disturb and handle these species. He also holds a level 5 Botanical Society for Britain and Ireland (BSBI) field identification skills certificate (FISC), which certifies him as competent to undertake phase 1 habitat and national vegetation classification (NVC) surveys.
Alasdair is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), who promote the highest standards of practice through a professional code of conduct and continuing professional development (CPD).
Alasdair is also a qualified NPTC Level 2 tree climber and undertakes aerial inspection surveys for bats and birds. He also holds qualifications in pesticide use, chainsaws, tractor driving, brush cutting, professional 4×4 driving, ATVs and first aid.