Meet the Team
Rebecca joined CBDC in 2023. Having initially trained as a plant ecologist, Rebecca then pursued a PhD in environmental management, working in solid waste and water quality research at a number of leading UK universities. More recently, Rebecca retrained as a horticulturist with the Royal Horticultural Society before working with the plant collection and garden charity, PlantNetwork.
Contact Rebecca with your general enquiries regarding CBDC including (but not limited to) potential collaborations, training, events, engagement or new project ideas.
Moustafa joined CBDC in 2011; his working experience demonstrates technical abilities for handling complex datasets and using statistical, modelling and mapping techniques; in creating and maintaining habitat layers, analysing habitat connectivity and assessing the influence of geographical phenomena on habitat fragmentation and species distribution. Moustafa’s main interest is to improve access to wildlife data by designing databases, mapping records, creating atlas maps and developing web applications for enhancing conservation practices and decision making. At CBDC Moustafa’s top priorities are to manage and map spatial data, his job has offered him opportunities to lead on various GIS projects at local and regional levels. Moustafa is Fellow member of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and the British Cartographic Society (FBCartS).
I’m the Recording Officer for CBDC and joined the team in late 2024. Having studied a MSc in Sustainability at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, I worked in Scotland as an ecological consultant, specialising in ornithology. I have also carried out voluntary work for a variety of organisations including the BTO, RSPB and WWT.
I work with individual recorders and recording groups across Cumbria to support them in collecting important biodiversity data and manage our incoming records on a day-to-day basis.
Contact me about getting involved in submitting records, hosting a recording day or any other issues related to wildlife recording!
I’m the County Wildlife Sites Field Officer – my role at CBDC is working alongside Lee and our partners to carry out surveys of our wonderful County Wildlife Sites here in Cumbria. I visit the sites, collecting habitat and species data, and collating them to update the citations and database.
Prior to this role, I carried out habitat surveys, particularly in the uplands of northern England, and worked on the Tees-Swale programme, engaging people with the unique habitats, geology and species in Teesdale.
There’s not much I love more than botany and my fantastic home county of Cumbria – it’s people and beautiful diversity of habitats. It feels a privilege to be involved in this project.
I started my new position with CBDC in May 2024 and at the time of writing this I’ve been with CBDC for almost exactly one month. It’s been a great first month, filled with meeting new colleagues and getting to grips with the survey methodology used as part of the County Wildlife Sites project. Collecting data and conducting surveys in the field is at the heart of this position, which suits me very well as I’m happiest when out surveying an ancient woodland, calcareous grassland or blanket bog (and every habitat in between of course!). I’m looking forward to getting the opportunity to visit many County Wildlife Sites throughout our wonderfully varied county during the delivery of this project, so perhaps I’ll see you out and about in the wild parts of Cumbria!
