Meet Becky!

We’re thrilled to welcome our newest member of staff Becky Ive, who has joined the Conservation and Research Team as the new Conservation Coordinator. Becky joined the Trust on Halloween in 2022, and has been busy networking at conferences on behalf of the Trust focused on Bearded Vultures and BIAZA Conservation Education topics. She has been utilising contacts she made over the summer from voluntary work in Bulgaria monitoring Egyptian Vultures to strengthen partnerships between the Hawk Conservancy Trust and the project in Central Uzbekistan tagging the same species. Carry on reading to hear from Becky all about her work!

“I worked for nearly 5 years as a zookeeper focusing on birds and aquatic species and I always wanted to work in field conservation programs with both native and international species. I took a year out to volunteer on field conservation programs including anti-poaching work in Cyprus and bird ringing in Poland where thousands of birds are ringed during their migration routes across Northern Europe. As soon as I started working with birds, I knew they were the group of animals I wanted to work with for the rest of my career. I saw the advert for this role come up and jumped at the chance to work at an organisation that values conservation and research so highly and has such enthusiastic and dedicated staff.

My job involves lots of different aspects to ensure each of the conservation programs the Trust works on run smoothly. This includes writing grant proposals to secure valuable funding, coordinating partnerships between our partner organisations and helping the other members of the Conservation and Research team in the field when needed.

One aspect of my job I’m most excited to work on is boosting the on-site biodiversity. We have a fantastic group of volunteers that have been surveying the site for native species over many years including Reg’s Wildlflower Meadow. I really want to bring all this data together into a cohesive action plan where we can work on improving the value of the site for native species. I will be updating the website and signage for our native species work and hopefully give visitors lots of ideas about what they can do when they return home for their local wildlife including our many wonderful bird of prey species.”