Staff
Below are some of our dedicated ecologists that you may meet whilst working with us...
John Poland CEnv MCIEEM CBiol MRSB
Principal Ecologist
John is an accomplished ecologist with over 20 years experience specialising in protected species and habitat issues relating to planning policy and nature conservation legislation.
John recognises the real issues faced by our clients and successfully harmonises wildlife and development to everyone’s benefit. He is a multi-species licence holder and also leads regular training courses for ecologists and developers. As well as overseeing the company strategies, John continues to work with architects, planners and engineers to ensure a “win-win” situation is achieved on all projects.
Outside work, John is best known for writing the highly acclaimed and award-winning Vegetative Key to the British Flora – a book which has made year-round botanical surveys possible at last!
Victoria Russell MCIEEM
Senior Ecologist
Victoria has over 25 years consultancy experience and was a founder employee of one of the UK’s largest ecological consultancies.
Transferring her skills to a smaller practice has brought a wealth of benefits for all our clients. In addition to designing numerous mitigation schemes for protected species and writing ecology chapters for EIA, Victoria specialises in BREEAM and has achieved a number of ‘Outstanding’ ratings – a fact that has not gone unrecognised by our clients! Victoria ensures projects are completed on time – and on budget.
Laura Hardy BSc (Hons) AMRSB
Graduate Ecologist
Laura joined Hampshire Ecological Services in 2024 after graduating from the University of Southampton with a bachelor’s degree in Biology. She is a qualifying member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).
Laura undertakes a range of surveys for protected species including bats, badgers, and reptiles as well as preliminary ecological appraisals. She writes and contributes to habitat/protected species reports and assists in our data entry and mapping, including using QGIS.
Sophie Stirrat BSc (Hons)
TBC
Adam Rye BSc (Hons)
TBC
Additional Staff
We also have a dedicated team of experienced and qualified ecologists who are re-employed each year to assist with our fieldwork and admin during peak times. Our highly trained support team have a wealth of knowledge and capability to work with the range of protected species encountered on our projects. Again, all staff adhere fully to CIEEM’s Code of Professional Conduct.
Since 2010, we’ve also offered an in-house training programme for the best graduates to shadow existing ecologists to learn how surveys are completed to a professional standard. We’re pleased that our assistant ecologists have gone on to successful careers within our organisation in addition to Natural England, the consultancy sector and local authorities. We frequently encounter them in their current roles!