rachel hirst
expertise
Ecological Impact Assessment
Restoration Ecology
Habitat and Species Management and Enhancement
Ecological Clerk of Works
professional bodies
Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv)
Member, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (MIEEM)
qualifications
PhD (Applied Ecology), University of Liverpool
MSc (Environmental and Ecological Sciences), with distinction, Lancaster University
MA (Cantab.) (Geography), Newnham College, University of Cambridge
contact
0141 334 9595
profile
Dr Rachel Hirst, Principal, has nearly 15 years of experience in ecological survey, assessment and management, in both research and consultancy environments. She has a particular interest in Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA), restoration ecology and the use of GIS in ecological decision-making.
Rachel has a passion for the environment and its people, and is a highly competent field botanist as well as having proficiency in ecological analytical techniques.
With responsibility for ecology across the whole Practice, Rachel has a broad client base, including Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage, local authorities, NGOs such as the RSPB, and private developers such as Airtricity and ScottishPower.
Her project work ranges from species-specific studies such as habitat usage by whooper swans in Renfrewshire, to the management of large-scale EcIAs, including the Clyde Windfarm (152 turbines) and the SW Scotland Renewable Energy Transfer Scheme (60km). She has contributed to a number of key biodiversity policy documents, including SNH’s “Constructed Tracks in the Scottish Uplands”, and has been involved in SNH’s Sharing Good Practice in windfarm construction. Rachel regularly provides expert witness services for public inquiry, has recently become an ecological advisor to the Centre for Sustainable Energy’s Expert Forum and is an Associate of Newnham College, Cambridge.
