Who's Who in WeBS

As WeBS Manager, Teresa is responsible for overall project management of WeBS and GSMP and delivery of the schemes' operations, improvements, research and reports and other outputs. She works closely with the Partner organisations and other stakeholders and is the person to talk to about future developments and ideas. 

Teresa joined the WeBS team in November 2015. She first worked with WeBS data back in 2005-09, as a statistics research student looking at WeBS wildfowl data analysis. From 2008 to 2015 she worked in Local Environmental Records Centres in Kent and Cumbria, managing habitat and sites datasets and species records of all taxa, increasing effective biodiversity data use and encouraging more people to get in to wildlife recording and monitoring. Teresa is a self-styled "data naturalist" and is a fan of maps, graphs, insects - and birds, of course.

Whether you are interested in newly joining the scheme or have been counting for many years, for any information about WeBS Core Counts, WeBS Online, getting in contact with your WeBS Local Organiser, site allocation or to make any comments, Gill is the person to contact in the first instance.

Prior to joining the BTO in July 2019, Gill worked in West Yorkshire as an environmental consultant on development projects. Before that, she studied Wildlife Conservation at Liverpool John Moores University and spent her placement year carrying out practical and research work at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust reserve in Slimbridge. It's here that her love for wetlands and birds was nurtured!

Gill is a keen explorer and has also carried out conservation and research work all around the UK, South Africa, Peru and the USA.

Graham provides the analytical brains behind the whole operation, ensuring all the databases and programs run smoothly.  He also is responsible for the production of the WeBS Alerts Report and generating the species population trends for the annual report. A mine of statistical knowledge, what Graham doesn't know about "Goose Trumps", isn't worth knowing. 

Ian will be taking over responsibility for the analytical side of WeBS when Graham Austin retires in 2023, and will become responsible for generating the species population trends for the annual report  as well as a number of other WeBS programs including the WeBS Alerts Report.  He is currently working with Graham to ‘soak up’ as much as possible of the considerable knowledge that Graham has gained from 25 years working in the WeBS team.

Ian has worked at the BTO Head Office in Thetford since 2014 as a member of the Wetland and Marine team and organises the BTO Heronries Census as part of his role. During that time has also worked on a variety of projects including an analysis of WeBS data for Curlews. Prior to working in Thetford, he worked as a fieldworker for the BTO on several projects and also undertook fieldwork surveying breeding Lapwings and Curlews for the RSPB in Wales. He is originally from east London and studied breeding Tufted Ducks at Walthamstow Wetlands SSSI as part of his MSc Conservation at University College London.

When he is not watching or studying birds, Ian is a keen botanist and undertakes annual surveys of rare Breckland plant species as a member of the Breckland Flora Group.