MEET THE TEAM

Alexia has been working in the ecology sector for over 20 years.  She holds an MA in Biological Sciences from Trinity College, University of Oxford and an MSc, specialising in Ecological Management from Imperial College, London.

Alexia is a full member of the Charted Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management (MCIEEM), a Chartered Ecologist (CEcol), Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

Alexia holds Natural England licences for bats, dormice, barn owls and great crested newts, and is a registered consultant (RC) under the Natural England low impact bat licence scheme. She is also a registered assessor of ‘Building with Nature’.

Alexia has wide ranging experience both in the UK and overseas, ranging from community forestry projects in Papua New Guinea to new town and solar developments in the UK.  Alexia oversees major projects undertaken by The Ecology Partnership, including works on SPA and SAC issues, Habitats Regulations Assessments, EcIAs, and public inquiries and expert witness roles. Alexia has considerable practice in stakeholder consultation, community liaisons and negotiation experience.

Natasha joined the Ecology Partnership in May 2023. She has previously spent almost two years with Simlaw Ecology gaining experience in protected species surveys throughout the UK, and writing preliminary ecological appraisals (PEAs) and ecological impact assessment (EcIA) reports. Natasha will be working on getting her level 2 bat licence and is a qualifying member of CIEEM.

Natasha graduated from Kingston University in 2019 with a First Class BA in Biological Sciences. She has spent time working on flood management in London, behaviour of cetaceans in the Tenerife sea, and the reintroduction of water voles to Surrey. She has recently worked on a permaculture farm in Cyprus, learning how to improve soil conditions to revive biodiversity and maximise crop production

Matt joined The Ecology Partnership as a senior ecologist in September 2019 having worked in the ecology sector since 2012 for a number of large ecological consultancies. Matt has conducted a wide range of protected species and habitat surveys on a variety of different projects across the UK. Project work has included residential, industrial, large-scale infrastructure and highway development schemes in both the private and public sector. His role primarily involves managing both large and small projects, producing preliminary ecological appraisals, ecological impact assessments and BREEAM assessments as well as designing ecological mitigation, management and enhancement plans and imputing into design meetings. Matt holds a Natural England licence for surveying great crested newts, and, a level 4 FISC for plant identification.

Matt graduated from the University of Exeter with a BSc (Hons) in Conservation Biology and Ecology in 2011. Since then he volunteered and eventually worked for London Borough of Sutton, within their biodiversity department. After two seasons as a field surveyor Matt gained a permanent position at a large consultancy in 2014. Here he flourished, gaining a wealth of experience, before being made a senior ecologist in 2018. Matt’s passion is botany and he is competent in carrying out NVC and other habitat assessment work. Most notably he has been involved in surveys and assessments of local wildlife sites and sites of nature conservation status, in order to review their status.

Eddie joined The Ecology Partnership as a senior ecologist in June 2021 having worked in the ecology sector since 2012. Eddie has conducted a wide range of protected species and habitat surveys on a variety of different projects across the UK. Projects have included a range of large to small scale residential, industrial and commercial developments. His role involves producing preliminary ecological appraisals, ecological impact assessments, biodiversity metrics and BREEAM assessments as well as designing ecological mitigation, management and enhancement plans. Eddie has also prepared Natural England development licences for bats, badgers and great crested newts and holds Natural England licences for surveying great crested newts and bats.

Eddie graduated from the University of Plymouth with a BSc (Hons) in Geography and an MSc in Environmental Consultancy in 2012. He then went to work for several consultancies as a field surveyor gaining a permanent position at a consultancy in 2013 where he gained a range of knowledge and understanding working on multiple different projects. Eddie enjoys all aspects of ecology and challenging sites which have a variety of different constraints and enhancement opportunities. Eddie also enjoys occasional tree climbing to search for bat roosts.

Coming from a background in water quality consultancy, Alice joined The Ecology Partnership in March 2019 after completing a Biodiversity (Ecology) Traineeship with Berks, Buck and Oxon Wildlife Trust. Through this scheme Alice gained widespread experience including breeding bird surveys, plant identification, water vole surveys with the Water Vole Recovery Project, butterfly surveys, dormouse surveys, and bat activity surveys. Since joining The Ecology Partnership Alice has undertaken a wide range of botanical surveys, habitat and condition assessments, and protected species surveys on both large scale and small scale projects. as well as producing ecological reports and protected species licences. Alice currently holds Level 1 Natural England licences for Great Crested Newts and Hazel Dormice. She is currently working towards her Rare Reptile and Barn Owl licenses.

Alice graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London with a BSc (Hons) in Geography. Her undergraduate dissertation focused on ecological assessment of two lowland heathland sites in Hampshire and the impact of their grazing regimes on floral diversity and overall condition classification. In her free time whilst at university, Alice enjoyed conducting butterfly transect surveys in Runnymede with the local volunteer for the UKBMS, and has continued to do so each year since.

Kieran joined The Ecology Partnership in July 2019 after a year of gaining experience working for a couple of ecology consultancies whilst completing his education. During this time Kieran conducted protected species surveys throughout the UK including surveys for bats, nesting birds, reptiles, water voles and dormice. Since joining The Ecology Partnership Kieran has built on this base of knowledge and now undertakes preliminary ecological appraisals (PEAs) as well as survey work and report writing for a wide range of protected species. Kieran is currently aiming to gain a Natural England survey licence for Great Crested Newts and Dormice.

Kieran graduated from University of Greenwich in 2018 with a BSc (Hons) in Geography, before undertaking a PGDIP (CIEEM Accredited) in Environmental Conservation in 2019, also at the University of Greenwich. For his thesis Kieran undertook a review of natural capital valuation schemes used around the globe using the results to create an improved method for valuing the existing woodland within Kent.

Sue has many years’ experience in a variety of capacities and a number of different organisations, spending 20 years working for Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavelin Group, which is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancy.  More recently, she undertook several temporary assignments, helping local companies with secretarial, clerical, reception and administrative duties, including processing funding requests and maintaining complex databases.

Sue has been a Samaritans Listening Volunteer for many years and, as such, believes this helps her communicate at all levels and work co-operatively with others. As well as being humble enough to continually question her knowledge and skills and having a desire to help improve systems through a process of common sense and experience, she is keen to assist this fast-growing and successful partnership with its administration, invoicing and credit control and anything else that occurs.  Sue is a grandmother to two and is sure this keeps her fit and ‘up to the minute’.