Meet the Team

I am delighted to join the South East Devon Habitat Regulations Partnership as Wildlife Warden Team Leader. I am joining the Team from one of our partners - Devon Wildlife Trust - and I’m delighted to get to work on these incredible, internationally important sites with such a knowledgeable and dedicated Team. 

My background is in nature reserve management, developing and delivering landscape scale conservation projects and species recovery projects. Beginning my career as a volunteer at Durham Wildlife Trust I have since spent my career at the Devon and Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts, Butterfly Conservation, the Rivers Trust and Bumblebee Conservation. Working on the West Country Buzz project first brought me to Devon, working to protect species like the brown banded carder bee, and a year later I made the move from Scotland permanent joining Devon Wildlife Trust on a maternity cover contract. 

I am excited to bring my conservation and management experience to this exciting new role where I will be out and about with our warden team on Dawlish Warren, the Exe Estuary and the wonderful Pebblebed Heaths. The most exciting part of the role is to be working across a range of partner sites and organisations that make up South East Devon Wildlife.

Hi! My name is Sama and I’m a Wildlife Warden. It’s my job to ensure we all get the very best from our nature reserves – I give advice on how to share space with wildlife, so you can have the best experience without accidentally causing disturbance or damaging habitat.

Prior to this role: I volunteered on many of the nature reserves we now care for! I completed a practical traineeship with Devon Wildlife Trust and spent a year doing environmental education with the National Trust too.

I’ve been involved in conservation projects all over the world, from oceanographic research in Scotland to coral reef ecology in the Philippines.

While I love to travel, I also love this place we call home - I’m originally from Devon and grew up overlooking the Exe. I know that my passion for nature stems, at least in part, from a childhood spent on the water and exploring this beautiful region.

It’s great to be part of a project that ensures that my children will be able to experience as wild a childhood as I did here.

Hello, my name is Imo, I've just returned after maternity leave and I'm really happy to be back!

I grew up in the Sussex countryside by the sea and have moved to the south west. I have always found nature really fascinating and I feel most at home when I’m near the water. You can see this in my job roles over recent years, being a watersports instructor, teaching windsurfing, sailing and paddleboarding and also a seaweed harvester for two years.

After completing my studies in Environmental Science at the University of Exeter, I began my career in conservation with North Devon Biosphere as a Community Engagement Ranger. During this time, I discovered my greatest aspiration is to encourage harmony between people and nature.

I feel privileged to be in my role as Wildlife Warden because it combines my passions and creates connections with the local community, partners and visitors alike.  I have been lucky enough to catch several glimpses of the ospreys in passage and meet resident kingfishers and Dartford warblers. I am particularly excited to witness the incredible autumn migration as thousands of birds arrive to overwinter at the internationally recognised Exe estuary.

Hello, I’m Claire. I was born in Canada, raised in Switzerland, and studied in the UK. My love for nature started early, sparked by a fascination with the ocean. Today, I love exploring the outdoors —whether hiking, biking, or dog walking—but I’m also partial to curling up with a good book.

At 16, my passion for both wildlife and education led me to start working with children, first by running birthday parties as Princess Belle and later by creating environmental education videos. This love for inspiring others to connect with nature eventually shaped my career path.

I studied Zoology at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, drawn by my love of the sea, before completing my MSc in Conservation Project Management at the University of Kent. Along the way, I volunteered in a variety of roles —from Beach Ranger in Polzeath and Zoo Keeper at Wildwood Kent to Environmental Educator at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. These experiences shaped my journey and deepened my commitment to conservation and education.

After working as an Environmental Educator for BirdLife Switzerland, I’m thrilled to step into the role of Wildlife Warden. This position allows me to combine my passion for the environment and education in new and exciting ways—engaging with the community, leading workshops, and, of course, witnessing incredible wildlife every day.

My passion for wildlife started at an early age, spending hours watching woodlice and ants going about their daily lives, much to the bewilderment of my younger sister who just wanted us to go out on our bikes! I didn’t know what I wanted to do as a job, just something to do with animals and considered entomologist, zoologist, vet, zookeeper, dog groomer and wildlife camera person; I also did a lot of volunteering to try and decide!

This included surveying butterflies for the National Trust, undertaking practical conservation tasks for Wild East Devon and acting as an expert ecologist on The Design Review Panel.

I studied Rural Environmental Studies at university and went almost directly into working at an ecological consultancy, first in the Midlands and then in Devon.  I feel incredibly lucky to have had some amazing wildlife experiences such as seeing over 100 greater horseshoe bats emerge from a barn, watching otters rolling about in a river and listening to natterjack toads croaking away in a pond.

I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into the role as wildlife warden, getting to know the three reserves and all the wildlife they support, as well as meeting and chatting to the local community.

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring the beautiful countryside, walking, swimming in the sea and singing in a local community choir.

Hi, my name is Marije and you are probably wondering how this is pronounced! 

When you next see me out and about on the reserves I’ll happily respond to being called Mariah, as in Mariah Carey, but please don’t ask me to sing! 

I have lived and worked in the UK for over 25 years now, mainly in Devon, with a particular fondness for hiking the Southwest coast path.

Compelled to play my role in addressing the  negative impacts of our human actions on wildlife and their fast-diminishing habitats, I enrolled at Bicton College to study Land and Wildlife Management whilst also volunteering with the Teignbridge District Council Green Spaces team, the Woodland Trust, and a rewilding project on the Sharpham Estate.

As well as gaining ecological knowledge and survey techniques, I learned a wide variety of practical skills such as fencing, strimming, coppicing, felling and hedge laying, to enable me to sustainably manage wildlife habitats.  

I joined Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust as a residential volunteer ranger at Berry Head National Nature Reserve, where I was employed as Engagement Officer in July 2023. For the past two years I have shared my passion and enthusiasm for this site, designated for its nationally scarce limestone grassland and the unique species of flora which thrive there, as well as the most southerly mainland breeding colony of guillemots and the rare Greater Horseshoe bats which roost in the quarry. 

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to move across to the dedicated Wildlife Warden team on the Exe, raising awareness and restoring the balance between people’s enjoyment of Devon’s green and blue spaces whilst protecting its rich wildlife habitats. I firmly believe that engagement is key; to quote David Attenborough: “No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”.

Hi, I’m Lucy, and I’ve recently joined East Devon District Council as the Green Space Delivery Officer!

In my role, I work across the partnership authorities to deliver Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG) – creating and enhancing places where people can enjoy the outdoors while protecting our most sensitive wildlife sites. My initial focus is on proposals for Exmouth SANG, projects at Exeter Valley Parks, and working with East Devon’s planners to ensure Cranbrook’s next SANG phases meet Natural England requirements.

I grew up in Cornwall, where swimming and surf lifesaving sparked my love of the outdoors. That passion has taken me from climbing Kilimanjaro to exploring hiking trails worldwide. I first experienced the connection between people and nature at the Eden Project, which inspired me to retrain and study Environmental Management and Sustainability at Plymouth University.

Before joining East Devon, I worked in Bristol on carbon offsetting with international partners, gaining insight into global environmental systems. I’ve also volunteered internationally with Thórsmörk Trail Volunteers in Iceland, leading conservation projects in remote highlands, and closer to home with the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, contributing to evidence-based marine policy. I’m excited to bring these experiences to help shape green spaces that protect wildlife and inspire people to enjoy nature.

As the Habitat Regulations Delivery Manager, my team and I work hard to deliver effective, specialised and lasting projects to protect the internationally important East Devon Pebblebed Heaths, Exe Estuary and Dawlish Warren.

My career in conservation began in 2005 as a volunteer with the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Soon after I was fortunate to become a residential volunteer with the National Trust on Exmoor.

I then went on to a Trainee Countryside Ranger position at Dawlish Warren and began to learn really valuable lessons about people and wildlife.

After that I spent some time as an Assistant Warden for the National Trust in the South Hams, working on the beautiful stretch of coastline towards Wembury.

Eventually, I took on the role of a Countryside Ranger for Teignbridge District Council, managing 26 sites, including 40 hectares of SSSI lowland heath. My love for heathland (and the species who call it home) started there.

I am honoured to have a place on the Pebblebed Heaths NNR advisory board and to work alongside such qualified and experienced members. With some significant projects in the pipeline, my role is to update and involve the board where appropriate and work to ensure the heaths are fit for wildlife and people now and for the future.