I am currently the Ecology Officer for Highland Council undertaking wildlife surveys, hazard tree surveys and providing advice on protected species of wildlife and invasive non-native species to colleagues and the general public. I am also a licensed bat worker and a long-standing member of Inverness Bat Group.

My Fellowship in 2002 took me to New Zealand to study bat survey and interpretation techniques. New Zealand has a well-established programme of bat surveys and research and a good network of rangers and site mangers that I could learn from, so I was keen to visit.

It gave me first-hand experience of long-term bat research and my first attempts at sticking radio transmitters temporarily on to small bats (using a form of carpet glue).

The things I learned in New Zealand have helped hugely with bat studies I have undertaken back in Scotland. It has benefited understanding of bats in the Highlands and I've trained more than 20 bat workers.

Prior to my current job, I was the Countryside Ranger for Inverness for almost 20 years and some of the experiences I had in New Zealand helped enormously on my return home. For example, we re-jigged our site management systems.