Story
I’ve run one full marathon and have completed more than 20 half marathons, so taking on this challenge feels like a meaningful way to put all those miles to good use and to support a cause that’s close to my work and values.
Although I’m an ornithologist by training, much of my career has involved mammals, often by accident. Not only are mammals a useful and engaging way of understanding ecosystems, but they are also an excellent group of animals to use to highlight wider conservation issues. They are charismatic, easy to connect with, and often help people understand the bigger picture.
I don’t have one single favourite mammal, but I’m fascinated by small mammals, which are often the first to show the impacts of habitat change, landscape management, and the intensification of agriculture. They may be tiny, but they tell big stories about our environment.
My earliest memory of mammal fieldwork goes back to when I was eight years old, helping the late Derek Yalden fetch Longworth traps from the undergrowth in Woodchester Park. In a quirk of fate, I returned to Woodchester Park 16 years later, this time to work at the Badger Research Unit, where I completed my PhD on the effects of badgers and livestock on ground nesting birds. This was part of a wider project exploring how UK mammals interact in relation to badgers.
As a result, this “ornithologist” has ended up spending most of his career designing and running monitoring programmes for a variety of mammals, both in the UK and abroad.
This year, I’m taking on the Bath Half Marathon 2026 in a slightly unusual way - I’ll be running dressed as a mole!! Albeit a bipedal one.
I’m proud to be fundraising for the Mammal Society, a charity working to ensure a bright future for mammals in the British Isles and Ireland. They do this by supporting research and conservation, empowering citizen scientists, and raising public awareness about the importance of mammals and their habitats.
If you’re able to donate, thank you so much. Every contribution helps protect mammals, inform conservation, and tell the bigger story of our changing environment.