Meet the team

Previously, during Nida's 20+ years at the trust, she ran PTES’ conservation research grants, which help leaders around the globe protect a huge variety of threatened species. She now has the privilege of overseeing all our work. Primates are close to Nida’s heart, but red squirrels are her firm favourite.

Laura looks after our wonderful nature reserves: Briddlesford Woods and Rough Hill traditional orchard. She also raises funds for our UK conservation projects through charitable trust applications. She loves birdwatching and her favourite species is the lapwing.

Fatima has regular contact with our supporters. She enjoys thanking them when they give so generously to our projects. Scottish wildcats and snow leopards are among her favourite species.

Megan, our Key Habitats Officer (or 'hedge geek'), works on 'woodland edge' habitats. She enjoys travelling across the country, talking to groups of farmers keen to change their hedge management.  Her favourite species is currently blackthorn; a fantastic, resilient, species with thorns that demand respect.

Charlie coordinates our efforts to attract more supporters to the cause by spreading our message far and wide so that more people can help us save wildlife. Manatees - the gentle giants of the ocean, also referred to as ‘sea cows’ - are one of her favourite species.

Claire is our camera-shy Database Officer who helps keep your personal information safe at PTES. She’s a big fan of Scottish wildcats, but maybe don’t tell her dog…

Grace runs the Hedgehog Street campaign in partnership with BHPS. Along with hedgehogs, Grace has a particular interest in bats and a fondness for poison dart frogs after a wildlife watching trip to Costa Rica.

Rachel runs our fundraising and stewardship programme. She loves telling our donors about our work, and how their donations are helping the different species and habitats PTES protects. Her favourite species include red squirrels after seeing them at the PTES reserve, and slow lorises, because they’re fascinating.

Emily loves water voles and inspiring others to appreciate them. She is in her element when working with animals and being outdoors. She adores pipistrelles - tiny, chatty, agile bats - so much so that one of her dogs is named Pip.

Emily runs our conservation grants programme, covering UK and worldwide species, and manages all our dormouse data. She enjoys how varied her role is and getting to know the passionate people carrying out practical conservation across the world. Emily loves all British mammals but pine martens are her favourite.

Orchards and fruit trees are Steve’s passion both in and out of work. He manages Defra’s national inventory of traditional orchards, and engages with orchard owners and managers on every level. He is secretary of the UK Orchard Network.

Silviu supports all the PTES conservation and strategic work as well as research projects. He shares his PTES role with a position as Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge. He has a passion for all wildlife and a PhD on mammals but a long-term interest in amphibians and reptiles.

Henrietta co-ordinates the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme, combining her passions of citizen science and innovative research. A bird ringer and nest recorder in her spare time, she can often be found rummaging in hedges. Her favourite species is probably the puffin, but it’s so hard to choose!

Zoe makes sure our work is communicated in an interesting and informative manner. She’d love more people to appreciate the natural world, mainly so she has a new audience to share her fascinating animal facts with. For instance, did you know there are about 30 million species of beetle? Zoe has a great fondness for them.

Susan has worked at PTES since 1994 and is involved in the day-to-day running of the charity. She enjoys interacting with our supporters; many of you will have come across her over the years. She has a soft spot for hedgehogs having studied them when a student.

David runs ongoing citizen science projects collecting records of mammals and other animals, recognising the importance of the built environment for wildlife and people alike. Non-professionally, he has a fondness for octopuses.

Ian works on hazel dormice and considers himself fortunate to work on such a charming species that’s also an excellent indicator as to the state of our woods, hedges and scrub habitats. Ian is a fan of bramble. It’s a curse for many conservation volunteers, but, in its defence, it provides food and safe nesting sites and blackberries for us.

When Izzy isn’t sharing PTES’ work and chatting with our wonderful supporters on social media, she’s managing the day-to-day upkeep of our websites. Her favourite animal is the grumpy-faced Pallas's cat.