Which are you?
Don't forget, you can always...
Kathy feels "lucky" to be able to work in a field which is also one of her greatest passions.
Even before gaining First Class Honours in Zoology at UCW, Aberystwyth, Kathy's endeavours had already earned her the Elizabeth Thomas prize for Zoology (1990), the R.Emrys Watkin prize for Marine Biology (1990) and the Sarah-Jane Cross Memorial Prize for Zoology in 1987.
She believes it is her constant pursuit for information and knowledge that has fuelled her research "in applied ecology for conservation management at local scales in restoration ecology, and at larger scales in ecosystem services evaluations". Kathy's ambitions lead her to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Dorset where she obtained a PhD through investigation of habitat use and demography of the common buzzard.
As well as following her early academic qualifications with applied ecology work in the UK, Kathy has been fortunate enough to experience the exotic highs of conservation management in Mauritius. It is here that she recalls one of the 'most magical' moments of her work - "having a wild and untagged Mauritian kestrel alight inches away from me!".
Fieldwork in the UK has also been an enjoyable part of Kathy's work in "the many fantastic UK habitats I've studied - lowland heath, bird-rich estuaries...up trees to radio-tag nestling buzzards!"
Kathy is also convinced that "as an applied science, conservation ecology needs to constantly work at improving the links between research, policy development and practical conservation. In other words, researchers need to engage with people over the full range of economic and environmental concerns. It is in finding ways in which conservation of biodiversity can be realistically achieved in the face of increasing human pressures on the environment. This is the reason for the current interest in ecosystem service evaluations".
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