Meet the team

Positionality

The following positionality statement reflects the positionality of ten project staff who work with fishers throughout Wales and with local communities in North Wales. Staff are from the lead partner organisations Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), and delivery partners, the North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT).

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Through our lives and work we have witnessed and experienced some of the ways in which injustice, lack of representation of persistently minoritized groups and uneven power dynamics impacts access to opportunities for people to experience nature. We recognise that our experiences and voices are not fully representative of communities living in Wales and beyond. Our desire is that through collaboration and co-development we can help overcome past injustices and create change for the future of the conservation sector and the lives of people living in Wales. We are dedicated to driving this change in our work supported by a dedicated work focus on equity, diversity and inclusion and a team commitment to increase our understanding of EDI topics. We acknowledge the limitations in our understanding of some of the issues we are working to address as Project SIARC and recognise the importance of working collaboratively for change. Of the ten staff this statement represents, seven of us are women and three of us are men, we are of both Welsh and English ethnicity with individuals with Welsh, Northern Irish, English, Scottish and indigenous American heritage. We have a mean age of 35 (range: 27 – 49). Between us we have grown up in both rural and urban settings in the UK and overseas. Of our team there are members who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community and members who are heterosexual. Of the ten staff represented here, no members of the team have any physical disabilities or impairments.  As a team we are neurodiverse, with both neurodivergent and neurotypical team members.

Two of us are fluent Welsh speakers and eight of us are Welsh learners and within the team we also speak five other languages in addition to Welsh and English. On average we have spent 35% of our collective lives living in Wales, and both our experiences of living and working in Wales have significantly shaped our outlooks and approaches to working in the environment sector. For all of us the sea and marine environment have played significant roles throughout our lives, although we haven’t all grown up by the sea and the development of that connection ranges from starting in childhood to adulthood. This connection strongly influences the choices that we make today, including our passion for safeguarding and celebrating the Welsh marine environment, and working towards equitable access to blue space for all who we work with.

All of the team have had the privilege of international travel across a collective 6 continents of the world, this has included travel for research, conservation science, leisure and life changes. These opportunities have given us the chance to both experience and learn from cultures which are different to our own and develop different skills throughout the years. Our travels have highlighted lower levels of awareness of the wildlife and habitats that can be found in the marine and freshwater environment in the UK. These experiences have reinforced a shared commitment to advocating for improving access and opportunities to experience nature in Wales, without the need to travel overseas. Within the team we collectively hold eight BScs, one BA, nine MScs, one MA and two PhDs in environmental subjects. Growing up, we have been shaped by our families’ backgrounds which include working in the following sectors: agriculture, environment, engineering, seafood, administration & human resources, military defence, tourism, social care, healthcare and wellbeing, mining, biological research, finance, manufacturing, construction, education and media. Collectively we have worked in the hospitality, environmental and wildlife conservation, tourism & leisure, sports, animal care, creative, research, construction, media, healthcare, retail, events, farming, manufacturing, diving and civil–service sectors, and volunteered for organisations focused on the environment and wildlife conservation, animal care, scientific research,  support for vulnerable children & adults, and support for refugees, migrants and asylum seekers

We recognise the privilege that our backgrounds have given us, as outlined here-in, and we know as a team we continue to have much to learn.

The Team

Joanna Barker

Project SIARC Senior Project Manager

All workpackages

Jo leads project management and is involved in all workpackages. She has particular focus on strategic design, interpretation of results and ensures outputs are used to inform conservation and are feedback to the community.

Ben Wray

Project SIARC NRW Project Manager

All workpackages

Ben provides co-management support to the Project Lead, providing input and specialist advice to project design and work package activities from an ecological, policy, legislative and licensing perspective. Ben draws on significant experience managing Wales-based conservation projects and advising on marine activities and developments specifically related to mitigating impacts on marine ecology receptors and protected habitat and species features.

Jake Davies

Project SIARC Technical Specialist

All workpackages

Jake supports the management of the project and is involved in all workpackages. His focus is on fisher engagement, BRUVs and eDNA surveys.

Sarah Davies

Project SIARC Coordinator

All workpackages

Sarah is involved in multiple workpackages, with a focus on fisher engagement, eDNA surveys, school engagement and communications.

Hannah Lee

Project SIARC Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Community Officer

All workpackages

Hannah is involved across all workpackages and supports project learning related to implementing fairer conservation practices and work with local communities to co-develop activities to address barriers hindering peoples participation in marine conservation in Wales.

Surshti Patel

Project SIARC Senior Technical Specialist

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; fisher engagement

Surshti provides oversight and technical input to the delivery of our equity, diversity and inclusion work, work with communities and fisher engagement. She has a particular interest in ensuring inclusive and ethical conservation science and practise.

Kate Moses

Instant Wild Project Manager

Citizen science; project management

Kate manages Instant Wild and will focus on increasing our understanding of who uses the platform and how we can reach people who are not currently engaged.

Hannah Hughes

Marine Project Officer

Citizen science

Hannah works closely with the Project Manager to organise and deliver key meetings and support funder reports. She also contributes to Instant Wild in partnership with Project SIARC, with a strong commitment to expanding the platform and uploading new footage to the app.

Nia Haf Jones

Living Seas Manager

Equity, diversity and inclusion; citizen science; project management

Nia supports the delivery of the Great Eggcase Hunt and focusses on understanding barriers to participation in order to achieve greater equity, diversity and inclusion in Welsh marine conservation.

Dawn Thomas

Living Seas Officer

Equity, diversity and inclusion; citizen science

Dawn coordinates and delivers Great Eggcase Hunt events, volunteer training and supports the delivery of archival research

David Curnick

Project SIARC Postdoctoral Researcher

eDNA; data analysis; research group; project management

David provides technical support and oversees the eDNA surveys and data analysis work packages.

Daniel Montgomery

Project SIARC Postdoctoral Research Assistant

Acoustic telemetry; data analysis; research group; project management

Dan is a fish biologist leading our research to understand habitat use and movements of Tope sharks in the Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation.

Nick Dunn

Project SIARC Postdoctoral Supervisor

eDNA; data analysis; research group; project management

Nick leads on the eDNA survey design, implementation and analysis.

Sophie Ward

Research Fellow in Physical Oceanography

eDNA; data analysis; research group

Sophie is a research scientist and ocean modeller who is mapping elasmobranch sightings and known movements with datasets which characterise the physical coastal environment.

Pete Robins

Senior Lecturer in Physical Oceanography

eDNA; data analysis; research group

Pete is an ocean modeller who will help Sophie with the hydrodynamic modelling designed for interpretation of the eDNA survey results.

Dani Crowley

PhD Student

Fisher partnerships; data analysis; research group

Dani’s PhD research focuses on the social and ecological importance of elasmobranchs and how that will be impacted by climate change.

Dimitris Pletsas

Project SIARC education outreach officer

School engagement

Dimitris provides technical support with the installation of 3D printers to the SIARC Champion schools, including CAD design and 3D printing induction

Cat Gordon

Senior Conservation Officer

Citizen Science

Cat has developed resources to be used for fisher engagement and citizen science activities within schools and the community, and supports delivery of Great Eggcase Hunts in Wales.

Harriet Allen

Citizen Science Data Officer

Citizen Science

Harriet helps to run the Great Eggcase Hunt, supporting the delivery and development of the project in Wales.

Jason Meeuwig

Co-Founder, Blue Abacus

BRUVS surveys

Jason designed the Blue Abacus Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) used in the field work and supports the team with BRUVS deployments in the field.

Jessica Meeuwig

Co-Founder, Blue Abacus.
Wen Family Chair in Conservation, University of Western Australia.

BRUVS surveys & Citizen science

Jessica supports the BRUVS field team in survey design and image analysis as well as contributing to citizen science via the Instant Wild portal.

Get involved

There are a range of ways that you can get involved with Project SIARC from actively participating in events to aiding in historical research and inspiring future generations to engage with the marine environment.

SIARC

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