Jim has been Managing Director of BEC Consultants since 2003. He is an experienced botanist having worked with many of Ireland's rare and endangered plants. Jim has managed the National Survey of Native Woodland and has also been the lead ecologist on smaller projects such as the 'Semi-natural Grassland Survey of Counties Roscommon and Offaly' (2007) and 'A Rare, Threatened and Scarce Vascular Plant Survey of Counties Cavan, Louth, Meath, Monaghan and Westmeath' (2006). Before joining BEC Consultants, he worked on raised bog NHA designations for the National Parks and Wildlife Service and investigated the genetic diversity of oak in Ireland for Teagasc. He also spent two years at the National Agricultural Research Institute in Guyana, South America, instigating research projects that would contribute to biological research and development in the country. Jim holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Biological Sciences and an M.Sc. in The Conservation and Utilisation of Plant Genetic Resources from the University of Birmingham. He completed a Ph.D. entitled "A species-based approach to the conservation of Ireland's threatened vascular plant species, using complementary in situ and ex situ methodologies" at Trinity College Dublin. In addition Jim is a Full Member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.

Steve has held the position of Company Director with BEC Consultants since the company's inception in 2000. His expertise in rare plants has been utilised in projects including the "Study of the Royal Canal Vascular Plant Flora", a "Flora and Fauna Survey for Regional and Neighbourhood Parks" and "Mitigation Measures for the Nationally Threatened Schoenoplectus triqueter". He also played a major role in developing the Pitcairn Islands Environmental Management Plan. He acts in an advisory capacity on other projects within the company. Steve is currently the Curator/Administrator of Trinity College Botanic Gardens, and is involved with a range of conservation and research organisations including the National Platform for Biodiversity Research, BGCI/IABG European Botanic Garden Consortium and the Irish Genetic Resources Conservation Trust. His main areas of research are ecological and population genetics, physiological ecology, plant biogeography, island floras, and conservation biology. Previously, he worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin, carrying out research in the areas of plant physiological ecology and ecological genetics, using native Irish species with disjunct geographic distributions. Steve holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Plant Science with Biochemistry and a Ph.D. entitled "Physiological and Morphological Studies of Waterlogging Tolerance in Geum rivale L., G. urbanum L. and Their Hybrids" from the University of Wales.

Philip joined BEC Consultants in 2003. He is an experienced botanist and bryologist, specialising in woodland ecology. His main role since joining the company has been lead ecologist for the National Survey of Native Woodlands. He is skilled in statistical analysis of vegetation data using ordination and clustering techniques and has developed vegetation classification systems for Irish native woodlands and for the grasslands of Roscommon and Offaly. Philip is skilled in GIS mapping techniques and has been senior editor for many of the major reports BEC Consultants have produced. In addition Philip has worked on a number of rare plant translocations, management plans and habitat mapping projects. Philip holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Biology and an M.Sc. in Environmental Management from the University of Nottingham. He completed his Ph.D. on "The ecology of yew (Taxus baccata) in Ireland" at Trinity College Dublin.

Simon joined BEC Consultants in 2004. He has over 10 years experience as a professional ecologist. He is experienced in botanical field surveys, mammal surveys and in evaluating the conservation value of sites. He has project managed and been lead ecologist for a number of habitat mapping projects including the County Monaghan Wetland Survey and Killarney National Park Habitat Mapping project. He has completed rare plant rescue translocations for Schoenoplectus triqueter, Groenlandia densa and Hordeum secalinum and continues to monitor the progress of these plants. Simon is skilled in GIS mapping techniques, aerial photograph interpretation and writing management plans. He holds a B.Sc (Hons) in Geography from University of Plymouth and is a Full Member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.

Since starting work with BEC Consultants, initially as a contract ecologist and now as a full-time employee, Fionnuala has worked extensively on the National Survey of Native Woodland. She is an experienced botanist and bryologist with woodland flora being a speciality. Prior to joining the BEC Consultants, she worked as an Ecologist with other consultancy firms carrying out habitat surveys and mapping for pre-construction studies, including Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Environmental reports, Constraints studies and Route selection studies. She also has extensive experience as a lecturer in University College Cork. Fionnuala holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Plant Science and diplomas in computer science and applied science from University College, Cork. Her Ph.D. examined factors affecting the regeneration of the Glengarriff sessile oak woods following clearance of Rhododendron ponticum; as a result she has a special interest in invasive species ecology and bryophyte identification. She is also a Full Member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.

Kate has been working full-time with BEC Consultants since June 2006. She has taken part in survey work for both the Monaghan Wetland Survey and the National Survey of Native Woodlands of Ireland. During the latter she has led various survey teams, taking responsibility for arranging field surveys, data collection and managing junior ecologists. Through extensive lab work and field experience she has developed keen bryophyte identification skills together with a broad knowledge of plant identification. Kate has also been developing her GIS skills whilst with the company, having been involved in selecting survey sites using GIS applications and having recently undertaken a Professional Development course in Geographical Information Systems at Dublin Institute of Technology. Kate has also been involved in data management, aerial photographic interpretation and preparation of reports whilst with the company. Kate holds a First Class Honours Degree in Ecology from the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Her degree included a year of study in France as well as a summer placement studying aquatic invertebrates. Following completion of her degree, Kate spent several months in Madagascar where she completed a Tropical Biology Association Course on tropical forest ecology and also volunteered with Bat Conservation Madagascar.

Aoife joined BEC Consultants in 2007. Her main responsibilities include collection of ecological data in the field, data entry, selection of sites for survey, analysis and interpretation of ecological data, report writing and preparation of tenders. She has worked on a range of projects with BEC Consultants, including The National survey of Native Woodlands in Ireland, A Survey of Semi-natural Grasslands of Counties Roscommon and Offaly and Mitigation Measures for the Nationally Threatened Schoenoplectus triqueter. Aoife holds an honours degree in Botany from Trinity College Dublin and M.Res in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of Leeds. Her Masters research projects were based on biodiversity of butterflies, seedlings and saplings in rainforest in Borneo.

Louise works as project manager for a number of projects with BEC Consultants. These include the Irish Biochange project, an EPA funded integrative, multi-disciplinary research framework to support national and local biodiversity policy in Ireland. She is the Irish representative for BioStrat an EU 6th Framework project in support of the European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy. In addition to her roles in project management she has worked on numerous contracts for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, including the production of management plans and habitat and species surveys. Louise holds a Diploma in Applied Biology from Dublin Institute of Technology, an M.Sc. in Ecology and Systematics from Trinity College Dublin and a Certificate in Taxonomy and Systematics from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In 2001 she completed a Ph.D. entitled "Morphological and molecular systematics of the genus Miscanthus L." at Trinity College Dublin.

Edwina has completed summer survey work on the Irish National Native Woodland Survey with BEC Consultants since 2003. Her duties included arranging access for surveys with landowners, field surveys of selected woodland sites, collection of samples for further analysis and data entry. In 2004 she also worked on the National Platform for Biodiversity Research with BEC, where she collected, analysed and presented biodiversity data from both members of the Platform and also other scientists working in biodiversity research areas. Before working with BEC Consultants, Edwina worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin on a project entitled "Quantification of Irish Holocene climate change from high altitude lake sites". She has worked for the National Parks and Wildlife Service on contracts including digitization of biological records and drafting of Species Action Plans. Edwina holds a B.A. (Mod.) in Botany, a Diploma in Statistics and a Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin. Her Ph.D. thesis was entitled "Multi-Proxy Evidence from Bogs for Environmental Change in Ireland over the last 1,200 years".

Mairead has worked with BEC Consultants on projects since 2005. Her duties on the 2007 Grassland Survey of Offaly and Roscommon included site selection using ArcView GIS, preparation of field maps and site packs, grassland vegetation survey, data entry, mapping of sites using ArcView GIS, assessment and compilation of EU Annex I Habitat monitoring and site conservation assessments scores for the final report. Mairead has also worked with BEC on the Native Woodland Survey in 2005 where her duties included vegetation surveys of woodlands, collecting timber data, bryophyte identification and data entry.

She has worked as a botanist since 1998 and has worked in both Ireland and Britain on a number of projects and habitats including surveys of coastal, bog, upland and fen habitats. In 2003, with support from the Heritage Council and Teagasc, she surveyed a number of REPS farms to emphasize their wildlife value to the farmers and the importance of their management in conserving wildlife. This work, combined with Mairead coming from an agricultural background, has given her an appreciation of the concerns and issues affecting farmers in relation to wildlife conservation. Mairead holds a BSc from National University of Ireland, Galway. Her final year thesis was a vegetation study of four Connemara woodlands. She is studying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a part time course in Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street.

Staff from BEC Consultants being instructed on the standard surveying methods for the National Native Woodland Survey, Vale of Clara, County Wicklow.