Family and friends of Olivia Wood very kindly set up a collection for Froglife after she sadly passed away. She was a keen conservationist and she followed her passion into her professional life, which lead her to carry out wildlife surveys for many small creatures, with amphibians being her favourite.
Below, a colleague fondly remembers Olivia’s journey in the conservation sector:
“Some five years ago I placed our usual Spring advertisement for seasonal trainee ecologists, with our local Universities, in this case Liverpool University. My Inbox started to fill with the usual messages and attached CVs however one CV stood out, Olivia’s. Olivia was interviewed and her career at AMC Ecological began, but more importantly, her journey into her chosen career was about to take off. Olivia brought to the role both her academic studies and her volunteering experience but crucially Olivia also brought her own personality. She was a young lady with experience, confidence and common sense way beyond her years and she rapidly became a key member of the AMC team. Indeed, when there was new technology to learn, or teach to others, it would be Olivia I’d turn to in order to deliver this on behalf of AMC saving the blushes of the Managing Director who can barely send an email! Olivia was becoming indispensable.
Olivia was happiest, of course, in “the field” and nowhere more so than up to her ankles in a pond! Her first project was a large civil infrastructure scheme in the Midlands and we sent Oliva out as an assistant with a qualified Great crested newt surveyor. Put simply, she loved it, setting traps, egg searching and torching around pond edges in the gloom of the dusk. Bed was at midnight and then back on site by 6 am to retrieve traps. The excitement was palpable – this was clearly Olivia’s calling , she had found her role in life. Olivia would often send me photos of the newts she had trapped. This happened regularly with new starters as the excitement is novel, but to me, it seemed this novelty never wore off for Olivia. We watched Olivia’s skills grow and some years later she was no longer the assistant; indeed she had her own assistant because I had had the pleasure of signing off her own accredited Great crested newt licence. It was a pleasure to do so.
Olivia continued to develop her skills beyond amphibians and independently signed up for a ‘Tree climbing’ course; before we could offer any financial assistance she had bought all her own climbing equipment. That showed how driven and focussed she was. Olivia also worked on habitat and bat surveys and also worked with me in my own field of specialism, Ornithology. She enjoyed all aspects of ecological surveys equally but I believe that it was the field of amphibians which she particularly loved. That was where it all began for Olivia.
Olivia had a short but outstanding, professional ecological career. She was a shining star at our company and will be forever missed not only as a colleague but mostly as a friend and fellow lover of nature.”
If you would like to donate in memory of Olivia, click here.