Curriculum Vitae
Johnstone,Renfrewshire
Summary
Conservation & wildlife management professional with over 15 years experience gained from working across two continents within a variety of dynamic roles. Ambitious and always striving for the next challenge especially when that involves using my experience, knowledge and skills to further evidence-led conservation aims whilst continually adding to my own skillset.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
11
11
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work history
Licensing Officer
NatureScot
Glasgow, Glasgow City
07.2025 - Current
- Member of the licensing team working across the range of licence types but with a focus on the novel and contentious licences such as Hunting with Dogs, Piscivorous birds, Raven PSD, Gull PSD and Beavers.
- Created a new Keeping licence type under Section 16 (4) (c) of the WCA for the keeping of alien invasive species for the purpose of ex-situ conservation. In conjunction with APHA and a sharing agreement relating to the Invasive Alien Species Order.
- Have been working for up to two days per week from November 2025 - March 2026 on the Deer App. Main duties included assisting with administration of the app, data handling / screening, liaising with stakeholders and WMO's, attending meetings with the app developer and wider incentive scheme team.
- Compiling the report for the Deer Incentive Scheme for 2025 - 2026 season. In communication with internal colleagues as well as external partners to produce a summary report.
Countryside Ranger
National Trust For Scotland
Brodick - Isle of Arran, North Ayrshire
05.2021 - 06.2025
- Project manager for INNS work to eradicate invasive non-native species from the country park and wider Goatfell mountains and moorland.
- Line management responsibility over a team of 3 in-house INNS rangers including delivery of training, performance reviews and health & safety protocols.
- Responsibility of dealing with contract management, budgeting, planning including managing contractors on site during works such as rope access, tree surgery & fencing. Compiling end of year reports and financial appraisals.
- Organised wildlife surveys to assess biodiversity health including Red List species such as whinchats and protected species such as bat surveys.
- Undertook HIA's for herbivore browsing to feed into the island wide deer management plan. This included quarterly deer counts of the NTS property as well as annual island wide counts.
- Monitored and recorded wildlife activity for research purposes.
- Delivered a variety of educational sessions, both formal and informal to schools, universities & community groups covering a range of topics spanning the ecology and habitats of the Brodick Country Park and Goatfell properties - a true sea to summit landscape.
- Organised and led events for the public including seashore scrambles, guided walks covering a variety of themes.
Countryside Ranger
Dean Castle Country Park
Kilmarnock, Scotland
10.2017 - 04.2021
- Countryside ranger covering the whole of East Ayrshire based out of Dean Castle Country Park.
- Duties and responsibilities include practical conservation tasks, educational talks, tasks and leading school / volunteer groups through conservation activities based on and off site
- Leading guided walks throughout the county, visited communities and offered talks.
- Responsibility for delivering a rural skills qualification to 30 students from Stewarton Academy as well as being the project lead on a HLF funded project to create 3 local nature reserves throughout East Ayrshire in conjunction with the local schools.
- Carried out Protected Species Surveys – usually for badgers, nesting birds and bats but occasionally looking for amphibians and invertebrates at various sites throughout the county.
Wildlife Manager
Buffalo Kloof Private Game Reserve
Eastern Cape, South Africa
12.2015 - 08.2017
- Role was to conserve wildlife populations and rehabilitate degraded agricultural lands back to natural conditions on a private game reserve in the Eastern Cape.
- Wrote the bid, which was successful, in order to become stewards of the adjoining government owned nature reserve thereby taking the reserve from 15,000 hectares up to 40,000 hectares - making Buffalo Kloof the largest privately owned and managed game reserve in South Africa.
- Line management responsibility over the wildlife team which consisted of 20 employees.
- Duties included delegation and assistance, including providing training where necessary, on a variety of tasks including alien vegetation control, pest species control through culling, monitoring of high value game including tracking of the reintroduced elephant population with telemetry.
- Formulated species management plans with respect to reintroducing species such as black rhino, cheetah, elephant, serval and leopard.
- Also on the snake wrangler phone list for venomous snake removals throughout the Eastern Cape.
Field guide & Course Manager
Ikhala Veterinary Wildlife Service
Eastern Cape, South Africa
03.2013 - 12.2015
- Working closely with many private game reserves in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Kwa-zulu Natal provinces in South Africa.
- Private freelance guiding on a number of game reserves for high profile clients.
- Led marine snorkel sessions, birding river cruises, marine excursions to St. Croix island to see Cape fur seals, South African penguins, sharks, dolphins and whales.
- Course manager on the Vets Go Wild programme which took veterinary students from across the globe and brought them to South Africa on 3 week long courses teaching them about the conservation and clinical work of wildlife vets and exposing them to the conservation challenges faced by private game reserves.
- Day to day running of the operation including logistics, budgeting, line management of field guides and course tutors.
- Delivery of the Coaching for Conservation programme.
Course Manager / Lecturer
Askham Bryan College
York, North Yorkshire
03.2012 - 03.2013
- Full-time FE and HE lecturer teaching on a variety of level two and three diplomas as well as various degree modules within the Animal Management department.
Graduate Management Trainee
Rentokil-Initial
Devon and Cornwall, South-West England
08.2011 - 03.2012
- Graduate entry programme designed to take university graduates through a one year management course.
Education
FGASA - Field Guide Association of South Africa - Nature Guiding
Ulovane Environmental Training
Eastern Cape, South Africa 01.2014 - 06.2014
PGCE - Teaching Qualification
University of Huddersfield
United Kingdom 03.2012 - 02.2013
First Class Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree - Animal Management
Sparsholt College Hampshire
United Kingdom 09.2008 - 07.2011
A-Levels - Environmental Science, Physics, English literature & Drama
The Woodroffe School
Lyme Regis, Dorset 01.2002 - 06.2008
Skills
- Organised
- Efficient
- Apply my own initiative
- Excellent communication skills
- Equally adept at independent working whilst being a reliable team player
Certification
Chainsaw maintenance, cross-cutting & felling
Felling small trees
Brushcutter maintenance & operation
Safe use of Pesticides
Tractor licence
Excavator ticket up to 14 tonnes
Affiliations
- Hill walking
- Wild camping
Timeline
Licensing Officer
NatureScot
07.2025 - Current
Countryside Ranger
National Trust For Scotland
05.2021 - 06.2025
Countryside Ranger
Dean Castle Country Park
10.2017 - 04.2021
Wildlife Manager
Buffalo Kloof Private Game Reserve
12.2015 - 08.2017
FGASA - Field Guide Association of South Africa - Nature Guiding
Ulovane Environmental Training
01.2014 - 06.2014
Field guide & Course Manager
Ikhala Veterinary Wildlife Service
03.2013 - 12.2015
PGCE - Teaching Qualification
University of Huddersfield
03.2012 - 02.2013
Course Manager / Lecturer
Askham Bryan College
03.2012 - 03.2013
Graduate Management Trainee
Rentokil-Initial
08.2011 - 03.2012
First Class Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree - Animal Management
Sparsholt College Hampshire
09.2008 - 07.2011
A-Levels - Environmental Science, Physics, English literature & Drama
The Woodroffe School
01.2002 - 06.2008