WE ARE A VIBRANT COALITION

Elliot manages our communications and education, engaging the public and key stakeholders on our work to restore rivers and help people to live alongside beavers again.

Elliot is an accountant at SSE. He volunteers his creative skills to help our campaign using his past experience as a Trustee of Scottish Wild Beaver Group, a charity that has campaigned for the protection of Scotland’s beavers since 2011. At SWBG, he created visual content about the ecological benefits of beavers and the management techniques used to mitigate conflicts.

Eva leads our communications programme helping engage and inform the public and communities about river restoration and co-existing with beavers.

Eva is a passionate environmentalist dedicated to climate action, conservation and wildlife resilience. She has worked on large scale renewable energy programmes for the UK, involving environmental impact assessments and community engagement, run carbon offset schemes abroad and founded a major wetland conservation and catchment restoration initiative. Most recently she has developed a climate action app and materials for schools eco initiatives.

Helen manages our financial planning and reporting, and supports our governance with the management team and trustees.

Helen is a financial and projects manager, interested in charity and community organisation governance. She grew up in Switzerland and Kenya, developing a love for wild places and travel. Having recovered from the culture shock of England, Helen has helped a range of clients including Artspec, Taunton Women’s Aid and a renewable energy company. She is Treasurer of The Milverton Trust and Chair of Wiveliscombe Community Swimming Pool Club.

Sandra supports our team delivering our strategy and leads our national policy programme, convening a coalition of stakeholders from farmers and anglers to conservationists and landowners.

An experienced charity leader, innovative thinker and convener. She is a passionate environmentalist who is driven to take urgent action on the twin climate and ecological crises.

Prior to joining Beaver Trust she was former Chair of Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Chief Philanthropy Officer and Deputy CEO at the largest Community Foundation in Europe, bringing philanthropists and grassroots charities together to achieve positive change.

Josh helps communities develop local beaver and river restoration projects, learning how to understand and co-exist with beavers.

Josh recently graduated in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and is especially fascinated by ecological restoration. He is an experienced wildlife photographer and is motivated by the thrill of encountering elusive species in the wild. He aims to communicate his enthusiasm for the natural world by making films and giving talks. Josh has supported Beaver Trust since 2019 as a volunteer.

Nicky supported setting up the charity and continues to advise on our strategy, programmes and fundraising.

Nicky is a social entrepreneur and environmental campaigner with a particular interest in business ethics, wildlife and the rural economy. She lives in Somerset on a permaculture plot that has been undergoing re-wilding for over a decade. She runs Learning From The Land, a sustainable business consultancy, and co-founded the west country coffee chain The Boston Tea Party and the natural acoustics firm The Woolly Shepherd.

Sophie coordinates our communications initiatives, producing our outreach and education content and sharing it with the public and communities.

Sophie is a zoologist and science communicator, based in Devon. Her passion for wildlife conservation has gained her a wide reputation across the science communication and charity sector. Praised for her wit, digital creativity and audience insight, Sophie has influenced a range of nature and environment projects since graduating in 2017, often invited to keynote and chair at AGM’s, university conferences and wildlife festivals.

Roisin is a highly experienced field biologist and recognised beaver reintroduction specialist. She has authored over 25 peer-reviewed publications focusing mainly on beaver reintroduction, wildlife health screening, captive care and welfare. Roisin is also the lead author on the Eurasian beaver management handbook and completing her second book on beaver ecology, conservation and management.

Roisin is highly experienced in animal trapping and handling, biological sample collection, remote monitoring techniques, field sign identification, data processing and translocation. Roisin advises various conservation projects across Britain, including conflict resolution, mitigation techniques and training. In 2020, she was recognised for her exceptional contributions and won the Conservation Scientist Award at the Nature of Scotland Awards.

Andrew is Coordinator of the Rapid Transition Alliance, an author, political economist and activist. He is co-director of the NewWeather Institute, Assistant Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, a Research Associate at the University of Sussex, and a fellow of the New Economics Foundation (NEF).

Keith is an accountant, who has worked in investment management for large private, public and third sector funds, where he was a keen advocate of responsible investing. He is now a trustee of two grant-giving foundations, John Ellerman Foundation and Dunhill Medical Trust, where he focuses on environmental and financial issues.

Jenny has worked for over twenty years in nature conservation in the UK, with extensive experience of government agencies, local government and environmental charities. She is currently a regional director at the Woodland Trust, with a focus on leading an operational team and always focused on outcomes for nature.

Victoria is head of the institutional business at Artemis Investment Management LLP. As a trustee of the Artemis Charitable Foundation, she significantly increased grant making to environmental causes. She is a committed environmentalist and enjoys putting this into practice on a hill farm in the Black Mountains. She is a trustee of food poverty charity, City Harvest.

George Young (aka: Farming George) is an agroecological mixed farmer from South Essex. He farms with nature, ensuring it can share his farm with food & fibre production. George is a passionate communicator with a community focus; blogging and vlogging about nature-based farming methods and nourishing real food.

Lucy Hodson (aka: Lucy Lapwing) is a conservationist, naturalist and self-described nature nerd. Passionate about connecting wider audiences to our natural world, she is an eco-worrier turned eco-warrior! As well as working for a large conservation charity, Lucy is a science-communicator; blogging on Instagram about wildlife and nature in the UK.

Megan is a zoologist and wildlife TV presenter. She joined the Springwatch team in 2020 and is soon to publish her debut book called ‘Back To Nature,’ in which she hopes to encourage a new generation of nature lovers to connect with the wonders of the natural world.

Chris is a Senior Lecturer in Biology at the University of Sussex specialising in restoration ecology and rewilding, and particularly the role large mammals can play. Chris is also a Director of Wild Business Ltd helping businesses restore nature and benefit from doing so, and Chairperson of Rewilding Sussex, engaging young people in rewilding.

David is Professor of River Science at the University of Plymouth. He has researched the physical habitat effects of beavers since 2003. He undertook the hydrological and geomorphological monitoring of the streams and lochs of Knapdale, Scottish Beaver Trial. Currently he is on the Board of the Plymouth Beavers Project and has recently overseen Masters students undertaking physical habitat studies on two Devon beaver sites.

Duncan Halley, originally from Scotland, has worked as a wildlife biologist in Norway since 1993, with a focus on conservation and restoration ecology. Research has included long-term study of the patterns and impacts of population development in beavers following reintroduction. He has also worked on the reintroduction of white-tailed sea eagles to Scotland and Ireland.

Gerhard has worked as freelance beaver manager in Bavaria since 1996. Besides providing more than 1,000 beavers for European reintroduction programs, he also trained over 700 local beaver consultants in Germany. He is coauthor of the German “beaver book” and author of the “Beaver Management Handbook for local beaver consultants”.

John is Emeritus Professor of Ecology at Queen Mary University of London. He is interested chiefly in the behaviour, ecology, welfare, and management of mammals and especially rodents and insectivores. He led the Natural England/PTES Feasibility Study on Reintroducing Beavers to England (2009), is a founder member of Beaver Advisory Committee for England and sits on the River Otter Beaver Trial Steering Committee and Management Group.

Originally from Australia, Josh is a senior lecturer of water science at the University of Birmingham. Josh is focused on hydrological and water quality dynamics, and the feedbacks with aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Recent research has included the role of beavers in these interactions, across Switzerland, Germany, and now the UK.

Mhari Barnes is Project Manager for Water for Tomorrow Project with Water Resources East. Previously, she was National Flood Management and Access Policy Adviser for the NFU, leading on coastal erosion, land drainage and flood risk issues. She has researched forest-related Natural Flood Management (NFM) and compared the impacts of engineered leaky dams to beaver dams on agriculture, farmer compensation and flooding, and developed the NFU’s Integrated Water Management Strategy.

Alastair Driver is the former National Head of Conservation for the Environment Agency from 2002-16. Since Jan 2017 he has been Director of Rewilding Britain. He has been involved in beaver reintroduction discussions since 1985 and is a member of the Beaver Advisory Committee for
England and the River Otter Beaver Trial Steering Group.

Dr Alexandra Jellicoe, an environmental engineer and scientist, has carried out research for the United Nations and worked with aid agencies mitigating the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations and has lived and worked with remote and vulnerable indigenous tribes and small island developing states. She recently founded Monkey Wrench Magazine to create a broad and inclusive conversation about the environment.

Andy has worked in education for over 30 years, specialising in experiential teaching and learning around character education and the National Curriculum outside the classroom. Through School Outdoor Learning, Andy helps over 300 state and independent schools with training, resources and transforming school sites to maximise their potential for learning in nature.

Archie runs a 2000 acre arable estate in Essex and the first natural flood management project to employ beavers in eastern England. He has worked with the national Rivers Trust on natural capital, been a Regional Director of the Association of Rivers Trusts, and is a founding Trustee of the Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust, improving water quality, flood risk management and aquatic ecology.

Ben Goldfarb is the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. His writing on wildlife conservation and land management has appeared in publications such as Science, National Geographic, the Guardian, and Orion Magazine.

Dr Carol Williams has been Director of Conservation at the Bat Conservation Trust for 10 years. She has worked in a range of conservation roles over the last 30 years including working for Natural England/English Nature and carrying out research on the lesser horseshoe bat. She is based in Cornwall.

Charnna Gilmore is the Executive Director for a non-profit organization in Northern California. Scott River Watershed Council was established in 1992 and their work focuses on holistic solutions to address the tensions around natural resources, especially water, within working landscapes. The use of beaver as a restoration partner remains a primary component in much of their work.

Cheryl is Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Head of Conservation and lead’s their involvement in the Cornwall Beaver Project, a fenced trial run in partnership with Chris Jones and Woodland Valley Farm. Cheryl’s favourite quote from a visiting farmer “I came thinking I can’t possibly have beavers on my land, I’m leaving thinking I can’t possibly not!”

Chloe is Kent Wildlife Trust’s Head of Wilder Landscapes, championing nature-based solutions including the beaver project at Ham Fen, the UK’s first beaver reintroduction (2001). She uses the transformational work of the beaver to enthuse organisations and landowners and chairs the East Kent Beaver Advisory Group on behalf of Kent Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Stour (Kent) Internal Drainage Board and Wildwood Trust.

Daniele has had a lifelong interest in wildlife and over the past 20 years has worked as a Wildlife Guide and Countryside Ranger. Passionate about environmental education, she now runs Perthshire Wildlife, with a focus on beaver tours, swift conservation and native wildflowers. Educating people on the brilliance of beavers is the best job in the world!

David Stroud has had a long interest in wetlands, promoting their conservation professionally through former employment as a government advisor, as well as with multiple national and international environmental organisations. He is a waterbird-obsessive in his spare time. David is Honorary Patron for UN AEWA and was recent Chair of Ramsar Scientific and Technical Review Panel.

Dominic is a former strategy consultant and conservationist. He manages the 4000-acre Wild Ken Hill project in Norfolk, which combines rewilding, regenerative agriculture, and traditional conservation on one site. The site includes a 55-acre beaver enclosure, home to up to 15 beavers.

Ed believes passionately that nature is our greatest ally in tackling climate change and a deep connection with nature will help us build a better world. Ed is the Director of Development for the climate charity Ashden. When at London Wildlife Trust he witnessed how enhancing river habitats can be transformative for nature and local communities. Ed is proud to be a part of the Beaver Trust alliance.

Fran is a landscape ecologist specialising in natural flood management, climate mitigation, wilding and the restoration of natural landscapes for the benefit of people and wildlife. She supports the Knepp Rewilding beaver release, and the wider restoration of these lost ecosystem engineers to our landscapes.

George is an environmental and political journalist, author and broadcaster. He studied zoology, and has spent much of his career defending the living world. An advocate for rewilding and restoring Britain‘s rivers, George believes beavers are one of nature’s ultimate climate solutions.

Herman founded World Fish Migration Foundation and the Dam Removal Europe movement to remove dams and protect fish populations in free-flowing rivers worldwide. He is an aquatic ecologist and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in fish migration and water management. Herman started “World Fish Migration Day” which will be celebrated next on 16th May 2020.

Isabella Tree is married to the conservationist Charlie Burrell. Her bestselling book ‘Wilding’ tells the story of the conversion of their failing farm in West Sussex to an internationally renowned rewilding project. It was selected in the Smithsonian’s top ten science books for 2018.

Dr. James Robinson is Director of Conservation for the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and has been involved in wetland conservation projects for over 20 years. WWT’s vision is a world where healthy wetland nature thrives and enriches lives and they are involved in beaver research and Natural Flood Management projects.

John has a lifetime’s experience in ground breaking and pivotal roles in forestry, wildlife conservation, research and management, and training in Argentina and the UK. With key posts with the IUCN, WWF International, Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina and the Royal Forestry Society, his forte is engaging with stakeholders with a common but opposing interest in shared natural resources to obtain consensus.

Jonah is a freshwater ecologist and Operations Director at Norfolk Rivers Trust. He has 15 years experience of researching and restoring rivers in Yorkshire, Scotland and Norfolk. Jonah’s particular interest in beavers is in their ability to bring life back to our damaged rivers.

Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, has been green campaigning and a member of the Green Party for over 45 years, promoting solutions to our environmental crises – as Director of Friends of the Earth, Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, President of Population Matters and The Conservation Volunteers, and Chancellor of Keele University. His latest book is ‘Hope in Hell: a decade to confront the climate emergency’.

American-born Lee Durrell received a PhD in Zoology from Duke University. She married author and founder of Jersey Zoo, Gerald Durrell, and spent 15 years with him writing and making tv programmes about natural history and conservation. Lee maintains a deep interest in her late husband’s legacy, receiving the MBE for services to conservation in 2011.

Mark manages the two Beaver Projects that Devon Wildlife Trust runs. Working as a wetland ecologist, he is particularly interested in the use of wetland habitats to reduce the effects of climate change and beavers are the logical conclusion of that. He has worked in wildlife conservation, and climate change and water policy since 1991.

Martha is a fiction writer from Minnesota. Since 2002 she has worked at the University of Miami, teaching writing through nature and animal studies. Her students practice writing as a way of exploring connections and examining patterns of perception and thought. Writing, especially storytelling, can be a vital part of reconnecting to the land, and restoring (re-story-ing) habitats left traumatised by human activity.

Mike Callahan is founder of Beaver Solutions LLC and Beaver Institute. He has resolved over 1,900 beaver-related flooding problems using nonlethal water control devices. Mike developed the first professional flow device training program, including BeaverCorps professionals across North
America and hosts the international BeaverCON
conferences.

Owner of Escot Estate, East Devon, Mish and his wife opened their extensive gardens to visitors in 1989 and started a collection of native wildlife, including the second walk through red squirrel enclosure in the UK. Beavers were introduced into a natural ¾ acre enclosure in 2007 - they built the first recorded dam in SW England for 400 years.

Neil Garrick-Maidment FBNA is the Founder and Executive Director of The Seahorse Trust and has worked in conservation for 45 years, working on a wide range of projects (and lots of species) including designing and building wildlife ponds and wooded areas when he owned his own wildlife landscape company. He believes that conservation of the natural world is the only way forward.

Nick Fox is an unsuccessfully retired zoologist, having managed raptor conservation projects across Central Asia, the Middle East and New Zealand. He re-introduced Goshawks to UK in the 1970s, and reared 53 Red Kites for reintroduction in the 1980s. Nick farms in Wales and England and hosts three families of beavers at the Bevis Trust. He has authored books, films and papers on raptors, animal welfare and land management.

Nina is an award winning self-shooting filmmaker producing films on a wide range of conservation projects from elephants to basking sharks. Nina has been documenting the Cornwall Beaver Project since 2016. She works regularly with the BBC, WWF, Butterfly Conservation & The Wildlife Trusts and her work appears on BBC Springwatch, Countryfile, Sky On Demand, Channel 5, ITV, CNN & BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Oly and Pete run the Argyll Beaver Centre in Knapdale Forest, home of Britain’s first beaver project, the Scottish Beaver Trial. They are passionate about inspiring people to become beaver believers and have been providing regular guided walks, face-to-face information, formal and informal education and outreach work for over 10 years.

Peter Smith is a founder & Director of the Wildwood Trust and has spent 25 years helping to reintroduce Britain’s keystone species, including the first beavers in the UK. He is an ecologist, specialising in conservation genetics, population dynamics of endangered species, rewilding, land use economics and policy, conservation campaigns and restoration ecology.

Phil founded the award-winning Better Food Company and co-founded The Community Farm. A Soil Association member since the 70’s, he is a farmer, retailer, wholesaler, teacher and community builder. He helps people from all walks of life to connect with where their food comes from and the importance of organic farming in protecting our wildlife habitats.

Philip is Global CEO of Compassion in World Farming, Visiting Professor at University of Winchester and Vice-President of Eurogroup for Animals, Brussels. He’s an award-winning author, ornithologist, photographer, naturalist and self-confessed animal advocate. His unquestionable passion for all animals and the countryside drives him to strive to achieve ever greater impact for animals.

Sarah Bates is Deputy Regional Director of National Wildlife Federation’s Northern Rockies, Prairies & Pacific region. She has taught public lands, water and environmental law and is a Senior Fellow with the University of Montana’s Natural Resources Conflict Resolution Program. Sarah is Senior Director of the Western Water programme, including restoring healthy headwaters with beavers.