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Dr Silviu Petrovan, Conservation Coordinator
Silviu joined Froglife in 2011 to take up the new post of
Conservation Coordinator. Despite working on mammals for the
past four years Silviu has always been interested in reptiles
and amphibians and has worked as a herpetologist on numerous
research projects, including some in Romania, Honduras and
Indonesia. Silviu is a fully qualified vet having graduated from
the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine,
Bucharest in 2003; he also has an MSc in Taxonomy and
Biodiversity Conservation from the University of Bucharest. In
2007 he moved to the UK to start a PhD in animal ecology at the
Centre for Environmental and Marine Sciences, University of
Hull. The focus of his research was the ecology of brown hares
and rabbits in grasslands and involved countless cold nights of
fieldwork in North Yorkshire. Since October 2011 Silviu has been
an Honorary Research Associate at the Faculty of Science,
University of Hull. Much of Silviu’s work with European
herpetofauna has been dealing with the conservation of the
long-nosed viper (Vipera ammodytes) in Southern
Transylvania and he still has a soft spot for vipers. His
favourite species of reptile in the UK is obviously the adder.
Paul Furnborough, Conservation
Officer
Paul began working as Froglife’s Conservation
Officer in 2009; he manages Hampton Nature Reserve - home
to 30,000 great crested newts, funky and exciting algae called stoneworts, and a very dedicated team of volunteers. Paul has a
BA (for some reason) in Biological Sciences from Oxford
University. He went on to work for the local Wildlife Trust and
volunteered for just about every conservation charity in the
county. He doesn’t
like to show favouritism towards any of our native herptile
species because they’re all so cool. Paul’s dream job would be
working outdoors, studying wildlife, learning to ID yet more
species and contributing to conservation… so basically what he’s
doing now. At weekends Paul re-lives the Dark Ages and fights
re-enactment battles between Saxons and Vikings.
Eilidh joined Froglife in 2009 and was the first member of
Froglife staff in sunny Scotland. The Glasgow office is based at
the University of Glasgow where Eilidh completed her degree in
Aquatic Bioscience. Previous jobs include working as an
aquarist, a seasonal countryside ranger and a field assistant
(which involved getting chased by cows). She recently moved to
working part time on the Living Water Project and part time on
developing new Froglife projects in Scotland. Eilidh loves the
variety of projects and skills that the Froglife team has to
offer and the fact that there are so many willing volunteers
helping out on sites across the country; she also loves
leatherback turtles as they look so prehistoric. Eilidh shares
the same dream as many a conservationist and nature-lover which
is to have David Attenborough’s job – travelling around
experiencing different cultures and amazing wildlife first-hand
(though she’s not keen on the bat poo part).
After the expansion of the Living Water programme into North
Lanarkshire, Iain joined Froglife as a Field Assistant in 2011.
He was inspired to study
conservation after spending time volunteering with the RSPB
and BTCV; he then completed an MSc in Wildlife Conservation at
Newcastle University where he was involved with squirrel
surveys. Iain has held various positions with the RPSB and BTCV
and has been all over Scotland and beyond - counting Arctic skuas,
monitoring peat-bog invertebrates and helping to lead
conservation holidays in Estonia. Iain is now really happy to be
working on an interesting project like Froglife’s Living Water
scheme.
He says he’s not sure which his favourite amphibian is - he
rather likes toads but he’s not sure why (possibly just because
they make him smile). Iain enjoys hill walking, yoga and
gardening (though not all at the same time).
Robert honed his herp survey skills at a young age counting
frogs in his grandparent’s pond and looking for slow-worms on
holidays in Cornwall. He then persuaded his parents to build a
pond and has been mad about amphibians (and reptiles) ever since.
In 2005, Robert graduated from the University of Reading with a
Masters degree in Wildlife Management and Conservation. After
graduating he worked for four years as an ecological consultant
before breaking free to go travelling. Upon his return to the UK
in October 2010, Robert jumped at the chance of working for
Froglife and moved to sunny Glasgow to assist with the North
Lanarkshire Living Waters Project. His favourite reptile is the
adder due to their funky zig-zag pattern and cat-like eyes.
Robert’s dream job would be to study manta rays or komodo
dragons (tropical islands, blue sky, sandy beaches and amazing
giant reptiles - what’s not to like?!).
After a dalliance with fine art school, Alex re-trained in
conservation management at Otley College in Suffolk following a
training scheme working on Wildlife Trust reserves in Avon. Alex
has since accrued over 10 years practical experience in the
conservation sector, working on wildlife gardening, reserve
management, planning and water voles. In 2008 he joined Froglife
to manage the Living Water project in South London; when funding
came to an end in 2010 Alex moved on to helping develop new
London-based conservation projects. Alex’s favourite
amphibian is the common frog, simply because they make him
smile, and he’s respectfully allured by the grass snake since a
memorable encounter with one mid-stream on a balmy summer
evening in Essex. Alex hopes to find time in the future to
undertake additional study, maybe when his own little ‘tadpoles’
have finally metamorphosed.
Sivi has a Masters degree in Applied Marine Sciences, though
decided to stick to dry land ecology. Despite this she has ended
up working in ponds for the last six years, primarily with great
crested newts. Sivi joined Froglife in 2010 to coordinate the
Great Crested Newts Revisited project and spends much of her
time waist-deep in ponds, hoping she remembered a spare pair of
socks. Her favourite reptile is the common lizard but she can’t
choose a favourite amphibian as she thinks they’re all
brilliant. When Sivi was little she wanted to be an artist.
Contact
a member of the Conservation Team.
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