Castle Hill Ecology sprang to life in April 2015 after a few years of working within ecological consultancy on a freelance basis.
Rachel has over six years of professional consultancy experience, specialising in field survey work and technical report writing. With a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Conservation as well as Class 1 survey licences for great crested newt and hazel dormice, and Class 1, 2 and 4 survey licences for bats, Rachel is also CSCS registered and is qualified in tree climbing and aerial rescue. She is an associate member of the Charted Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) and always works with current best practice guidance in mind.
In her spare time Rachel is a keen conservation volunteer, joining in with local Wildlife Trust events, wildlife surveys, and practical conservation management. Her main area of interest is bats, and she is always looking to increase her knowledge and experience, both as an ecologist and a volunteer. Rachel is a member of the Cambridgeshire Bat Group committee, in her role as events co-ordinator and website manager/blogger, and she is an active volunteer with the Bedfordshire Bat Group.
Rachel has attended bat research trips to some of the Greek islands with Greena Ecological Consultancy, where the aim is to record calls and catch bats in the hand to identify them and so compile a species list for each island, most of which have very few records to date. Islands visited so far include Ikaria (September 2014), Chios (May 2015), Kos (September 2015), Andros (June 2016), Lesvos (October 2016 and June 2017), and Naxos (October 2017).