My First Year in Ecological Consultancy
During 2021 I sub-contracted with various ecological consultancies (including The Ecology Co-op) which provided me with experience of how different consultancies work. At the Ecology Co-op I worked on various bat emergence surveys throughout Sussex and Kent, allowing me the opportunity to meet some of the team and discuss with them what it was like to work full time in consultancy.
My first glimpse into ecological consultancy was an online course ‘Working as an Ecologist in Consultancy – An Introduction’, in March 2022. Paul provided me with a broad understanding of the role ecologists play in consultancy, requirements for the role, and protected species introductions. An introduction was also given into mapping, phase 1 surveys, and report writing. The course was a stepping stone into working towards becoming an ecological consultant for me.
I joined The Ecology Co-op full time in March 2023, at a time just before the survey season starts in April, when our ecologists are busy scheduling in surveys, and undertaking preliminary assessments of sites, to ensure that these will be completed for report submission to be in conjunction with planning applications for our various clients; from home extension applications, to larger scale housing developers and everything in-between.
A photograph taken on a bat scoping survey; can you see any potential roost features that bats could utilise?
My initial month with the team was a time to ask (lots!) questions, and become familiar with how operations worked. Everyone was really helpful during this transition period, and helped me understand how to manage client expectations, how to set-up projects, how to quote and invoice for project work, and of course assistance with my first projects I was managing and undertaking surveys for.
The first large project that I gained experiences on is an unmanaged plot of land to which the client aims to develop 27 houses upon. The site is primarily dense bramble scrub, with woodland boundaries and some non-native hedgerows, there is also an area of grassland within the centre of the site that is heavily grazed by rabbits.
The aforementioned site, with bramble in places over 2m high!
An initial walkover survey or Preliminary Ecological Appraisal was quoted for and sent to the client, myself and a colleague visited the site and came to the conclusion that further information was required in relation to protected species including badgers, great crested newts, common reptiles, and hazel dormice.
This project is just one example of one example of various that I am now working on, and I have learnt lots along the way on how to manage projects as well as making sure I am meeting clients’ expectations, things that I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own without the support of the team of experienced ecologists around me.
My first year in consultancy has been packed with experiences and challenges to overcome on the way. The guidance, and support of the team has been invaluable and now I am confident in dealing with a much larger portion of both ecology and consultancy than when I started almost a year ago.started almost a year ago.
Article written by Nik Neale