Ecology, land management, arboriculture specialists, East Midlands Environmental Consultants (EMEC) has appointed two new ecologists.
Joining the Nottingham based company are Alice Palmer and Sam Geldard. The appointments follow a rise in demand from landowners, developers and house builders wanting to progress planning approvals and meet new government biodiversity net gain legislation.
Alice joins as a Senior Ecologist and holds a MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation and Level 1 Class Licences for bats and Great Crested Newts.
Sam is joining as an Assistant Ecologist and is currently completing a Biology and Environmental Management focused BSc at the Open University. He also has a Level 3 Business Administration NVQ and Level 3 Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue.
Before making the decision to become an Ecologist, Sam previously worked for Doncaster Council, and then became a Trainee Reserves Ranger at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
In his new role Sam will carry out and support fieldwork, surveys, and reports, along with project management of protected species surveys and liaison with clients and landowners.
Commenting Sam said, “Having worked as a seasonal ecologist for EMEC over the past 6 months, I found the team full of helpful and interesting people who are great to work with.”
In his spare time Sam is a keen amateur wildlife photographer, with a special interest in UK mammals. He also enjoys fitness and hiking! He also won the 2021-2022 Mammal Society University Challenge, recording tracks signs and sightings of mammals in the UK.
Alice has over six years’ experience of ecological consultancy working on a wide variety of projects for both large multidisciplinary firms and smaller consultancies.
She will be working on a range of habitat and protected species surveys, including conducting Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessments and creating biodiversity enhancement plans. She will also be supporting the team of highly qualified ecologists in their work across the East Midlands and beyond.
Commenting Alice said, “I have worked for EMEC previously and enjoy the wide variety of work and supportive team ethos. The association with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is also great, as EMEC’s profits are donated to the NWT to fund habitat conservation work across nature reserves under their management and other wildlife conservation activities and campaigns.”
Alice is a keen birder and loves the opportunity to go birding. Her non-ecological interests, include crochet and roller-skating!
She also spent two years travelling and working in Canada, where she learned to ring birds at Long Point Bird Observatory in Ontario. She subsequently worked on bird ringing projects in Alberta and British Columbia, where she had the opportunity to see the amazing variety of North American birds and other native wildlife.
EMEC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) and all profits are gift aided to the Trust to support nature conservation. Over the last 30 years, EMEC has gift-aided over £1m to NWT.