Ecology Training Day at Hope Wood
11 Aug 2023
Last month the Delta-Simons ecology team got together at Hope Wood in Lincoln for a botanical identification training day. This time of year is particularly busy for the ecology team; the nature of their work requires them to be out on site, conducting fieldwork and collecting data for analysis. As our ecologists are located throughout the UK, they don’t often get the chance to come together for full team training days. So when Associate Director of Ecology, Dr Charlotte Sanderson-Wood, was invited to a meeting at Hope Wood in Lincoln, she saw a fantastic opportunity to get all of the team together to provide training to both the team and Lincoln City Council. In this article, Charlotte shares a little more about the Hope Wood project, what the botanical training day entailed and the important role our ecologists play in the development lifecycle.
What is the Hope Wood project?
The Hope Wood project is part of the Council’s parks restoration project which is being supported by government Levelling Up funding and the Woodland Trust. The aim of the project is to develop a new area of woodland and other habitats on the 3.5 ha site through planting of thousands of trees and shrubs, whilst promoting community engagement.
As a prominent Lincoln business, Delta-Simons was invited by Lincoln City Council (LCC) to attend an information day about the proposed development of Hope Wood to understand local business input and volunteering opportunities.
What are we doing to support Hope Wood?
Following the information day, I attended a meeting with our Group ESG Manager, Emily Spencer and the Senior Conservation Ranger at LCC, Ruth Simons, to discuss how we could support the project. Volunteers were required for tree planting and fencing, and so some of our Lincoln based staff (Principal EHS Consultant Jess Beckwith, Principal Geoenvironmental Consultant Jess Rowe, Group ESG Manager, Emily Spencer and Principal Geoenvironmental Consultant, Kirsten Mills) attended Hope Wood back in March and planted almost 200 native hedgerow whips! It will be really exciting to see the hedgerow grow over the coming years.
In addition to volunteering services, Senior Conservation Ranger, Ruth Simons, also needed support surveying the area and identifying plant species on site to set a baseline as the project develops. So at the end of June, 12 of our ecology and arboriculture team descended onto Hope Wood for a full day to carry out floral and common invasive weed species identification. In addition to it being a great team day to support the integration of some of our new starters, it was a fantastic opportunity to provide training which will support our ecologists when they are out on site working on live projects. We also provided botanical training to the Lincoln City Council rangers, allowing them to continue with their identification surveys on site. As the project progresses, we hope to continue to support with our ecology and arboriculture services, as well as continuing to volunteer at the site.
Our Ecology & Arboriculture Services
Our team of specialist ecologists and arboriculturists work for public and private clients on a wide range of projects across all sectors, including industrial, residential, retail, commercial, renewable energy, transport and waste. We are proud of our track record in providing high quality technical advice to our clients and working with them to enhance the prospects for successful outcomes for their Projects.
The Ecology team supports clients, particularly those involved in the acquisition, management or development of land, who require expert advice and practical implementation of ecological mitigation to challenging ecological constraints. The Ecology Team are members of the Chartered Institute of Ecological and Environmental Management (CIEEM). Find out more about our Ecology and Arboriculture services here.
Interested in Joining Our Ecology Team?
We are currently recruiting for a number of positions within the ecology team, throughout the UK. Explore our careers site and view our current ecologist vacancies here.
We’d be interested in hearing from ecologists at all levels, so please do get in touch if you are an ecologist looking for a new opportunity and you can’t see a role available at your level or in your location.
About the Author
Dr Charlotte Sanderson-Lewis leads our ecology team at Delta-Simons. She has wide-ranging experience in the private and public sectors having delivered technical reports, Environmental Statement chapters, and protected species mitigation under licence, as well as giving direction on a wide variety of multidisciplinary development projects. Charlotte has an excellent working knowledge of UK and European nature conservation and planning legislation, policy, and guidance. She holds Natural England survey licences for great crested newts and bats, a bat roost visitor’s licence, and is a bat mitigation licence holder to allow low impact work on bat roosts, and a great crested newt low impact class licence registered consultant. She has held numerous derogation licences for badgers, bats, great crested newts, and water voles.
Dr Charlotte Sanderson-Lewis
Associate Director and Ecology Team Lead
E: c.sanderson-lewis@deltasimons.com
