Alba Ecology Staff

	Paul Doyle B.Sc.(Hons), PGCE, C.Env., FIEEM Director Paul comes from a background of bird research and natural history teaching, with a lifelong passion for birds but has a keen interest and expertise in other wildlife, particularly mammals, insects and plants. He has worked on a diverse range of ecology projects over the last 25 years, both in Britain and abroad, on birds, protected mammals, butterflies & moths, beetles, spiders, amphibians & reptiles, montane flowering plants, limestone plants & rare ferns, producing commissioned reports, environmental statements, advisory documents and peer-reviewed papers, as well as articles in the popular press, radio and televsion. Paul has held a bird ringing licence for 25 years, regularly holds Schedule 1 licences for a variety of rare birds both in the UK and Ireland, and holds a licence to handle bats and visit bat roosts. In his spare time he is the Regional Representative for the British Trust for Ornithology (Aberdeenshire), is the Scottish contact for the Barn Owl Trust, and takes an active role in raptor & seabird monitoring.
	Dr. Peter Cosgrove, B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D., FIEEM Principal Ecologist Peter's experience is in wildlife and habitat research, land-use management, conservation planning and policy development and environmental assessments in the UK and internationally over the last 20 years. He has managed many large projects and budgets from conception through to completion and has a strong proven track record of delivery in both the public and private sectors, producing over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, commissioned reports and books. Peter’s work has focussed primarily in six areas: (1) Delivery of ecological elements of Environmental Impact Assessments and the production of Environmental Statements and negotiation with statutory authorities; (2) provision of advice and guidance on conservation, planning and development control issues in designated and non-designated areas and thorough working knowledge of national and international designation issues, especially Natura 2000 sites and carrying out Appropriate Assessments; (3) co-ordinating the development and implementation of over 100 action plans with partners, for a quarter of the UK’s most threatened habitats and species in nearly 10% of Scotland (4) applied ornithological research, specialising in montane and woodland ecology; (5) communication of often complex biodiversity/conservation information and messages effectively to different audiences; and (6) Peter is recognised as a world authority on the endangered freshwater pearl mussel and its aquatic habitat.
	Dr. Kate Massey, B.Sc.(Hons), M.Sc., Ph.D., MIEEM Senior Ecologist Kate has a wide range of experience in plant ecology and plant-animal interactions. Following an Environmental Geoscience degree at Bristol University she undertook a Masters in Ecology (Aberdeen) and PhD in Plant-Animal Interactions (Sussex), and moved from there to the Biodiversity Team in the Environment Agency. She is a skilled field botanist, particularly in upland species, grasses and forbs, but also has experience in other areas, particularly water voles and crayfish, and in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Kate research interests lie in plant-animal interactions. Recent projects she has been involved with include investigating whether plant stress effects the growth and defence allocation of plants under herbivore attack, and investigating if silica based plant defences are a driver of herbivore population dynamics. Her main role within Alba Ecology is as our plant and habitats ecologist, carrying out Phase1, NVC and other surveys for protected plants, and as our GIS advisor.
	Ryan Wilson-Parr, B.Sc.(Hons), M.Res., MIEEM Senior Ecologist (Ireland) Ryan is a skilled ecologist with eight years experience in ecological monitoring and conservation. His research background is predominantly centred on bird populations at wind farm developments, particularly in assessing the impact of wind turbines on the distribution and abundance of birds in upland environments. His research interests focus particularly on the breeding ecology and foraging behaviour of Hen Harriers. Ryan also co-ordinates all of Alba Ecology's bat survey work for larger developments. Ryan has been involved in a wide variety of EcIA (Ecological Impact Assessment) throughout the UK and Ireland, and is an experienced surveyor of protected mammals, reptiles and amphibians, birds and invertebrates, as well as Priority habitats. In recent years work has focussed on Appropriate Assessment of plans and projects outlined in Article 6 (3) and (4) of the EC Habitats Directive. He is based in Sligo, Republic of Ireland.
	Donald Shields, B.Sc.(Hons), MIEEM Field Ecologist An experienced wildlife ranger and field ecologist, Donald spent several years organising and training new rangers at one of the foremost Scottish Field Centres, AIGAS, as well as running wildlife-watching tours and carrying out practical estate maintenance. He also worked on the monitoring of the European Beaver demonstration project currently ongoing, as well as using remote cameras to monitor local mammal populations. With past experience of hill farming and deer control on the Isle of Skye, he has recently returned from New Zealand where he worked on species protection programmes for New Zealand Dotterel and community run habitat restoration projects. Donald is also a fluent speaker of Scottish Gaelic.
	Kevin Cuthbert, AIEEM Field Ecologist Kevin is a highly experienced fieldworker with many years of ornithology experience in Scotland and in other countries as well as in other areas of natural history. A keen hillwalker and wildlife photographer, among other things Kevin is involved in monitoring Capercaillie and Barn Owl populations, and in the long-term monitoiring of the movements of rare birds of prey and waders in the north of Scotland. Kevin is also a keen bird ringer.
	David Hunt, B.Sc. (Hons) Field Ecologist David spent a few years working on Fetlar and Yell in Shetland, on red-throated divers, arctic terns, red-necked phalaropes, great skuas and arctic skuas. More recently he worked with RSPB on the whimbrel population of Fetlar, contributing to the study of their long-term decline. David is a highly experienced ornithologist and naturalist. Based in Lerwick, he organises and carries out our work in the Northern Isles.
	Neil Robertson, B.Sc. (Hons) Field Ecologist Neil comes from a background of many years working on Scottish highland estates, as a deer stalking ghillie and wildlife guide, with a wide range of experience including wildlife monitoring, habitat restoration and delivering outdoor education for the Challenger Trust. Neil is a true mountain man and is a highly experienced surveyor of the highland habitats, with particular expertise in raptors and black grouse but also other wildlife. Currently based in Dornoch Neil is working on protected bird species in the north of Scotland.
	Saskia Jancke, Dipl. Biol., MPH Data Manager Saskia is our GIS wizard, with a background in both applied ecology and also designing and using GIS constructively in surveying wildlife and analysing results for conservation. Originally from Germany where in the Berlin Natural History Museum she was Manager of one of the world's largest mammal collections, Saskia has plenty of experience of handling very large datasets and devising clever ways of using the data. She has worked on devising solutions to reduce road mortality in otters, but also has plenty of field  ecology experience working on Lesser Spotted Eagles in Germany and Grey Partridges in Ireland. Saskia is head of our data management team.
	Alma Fraser, DipDS Administrator / GIS Technician Alma has 22 years experience of liasing with ecologists in the field on a range of research projects, handling and processing the data collected and generally keeping everything running smoothly and efficiently. As part of the data management team she is responsible for translating observations collected in the field into a format suitable for analyses, using software such are ArcGIS, Distance and spreadsheets. As well as this she also takes care of all of the day-to-day office administrative tasks, running a tight ship and ensuring all the various cogs are well meshed and running as they should.
	Susan Doyle, B.Sc. (Hons) GIS Technician Susan's background is in zoology, particularly ornithology, but has many years of working with I.T., particularly in programming and dealing with large datasets. As part of the data management team she ir responsible for translating observations collected in the field into a format suitable for analyses, and also carrying out some preliminary analyses required for more detailed work such as Collision Risk Analyses or Population Viability Analyses.