SSO heading up the Development Management Team in the Natural Environment Division in NIEA responsible for issuing planning consultation responses to the Local Planning Authorities and DfI Strategic Planning.

Team Leader - Designated Site ManagementNIEA's strategic objective is to create prosperity and well-being through Environment and Heritage excellence.I am a loyal, honest and hard working scientist who is passionate about Nature Conservation and Environmental Management herein Northern Ireland. I have 7 years experience working as part of the Nature Conservation authority in Northern Ireland; NIEA. In this time I have worked in the Natural Heritage Grants Programme where funding was allocated to small projects (<£10k) to large projects (up top £100K) and core funding of key eNGO's in Northern Ireland to help deliver our mission statement across the province. I have worked in the Data and Evidence team where the small team was responsible for day to day management of spatial data for the organisation and designing an evidence strategy clearly defining the organisations data/evidence aims for the future. I have contributed to the ecological assessments and monitoring of the ASSI network and regularly complete ornithological surveys and WeBS counts. I was part of the steering group responsible for the EC Habitats Directive Article 17 reporting to Europe in 2012 and have scoped and initiated a series of research projects targeted at the Marsh Fritillary butterfly and its associated habitat in the West of the province. Currently I manage a small team responsible for the management of the N2K/ASSI network as part of the Management of Sensitive Sites (MOSS) programme. This programme is designed to deliver where no other programmes do and we engage with land owners and farmers across the network and province with the aim of achieving favourable condition of the site selection features.

The Irish Naturalists’ Journal Ltd is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee producing a journal and occasional publications on Irish natural history since 1925. Academic institutions, government bodies and museums support the journal.The Irish Naturalists’ Journal (ISSN 0021-1311) has been published every year since 1925. It is unique in scope and content, covering all aspects of natural history, and is the official journal of the established field clubs.This scientific journal publishes short papers and notes on a wide range of topics relating to the natural environment of Ireland, including botany (e.g. rare species, plant communities), zoology (e.g. invertebrates, fish, mammals, birds), geology (e.g. palaeontology, regional geology, mineral records), obituaries and book reviews.Authors include staff and researchers at universities, colleges, museums and government bodies as well as members of field clubs and independent naturalists. All contributions are peer reviewed. The Irish Naturalists’ Journal is distributed to libraries throughout the world, as well as the contents being abstracted and quoted in other journals. There is a full digital archive online.You can search the contents of the Irish Naturalists’ Journal at Irish Natural History Literature hosted by National Museums Northern Ireland.