News | Latest News | Welcome to Vicky Knight, VWT Ireland’s new Species Conservation Officer

We’re delighted to welcome Vicky to Vincent Wildlife Trust, where we will work together to conserve threatened mammals across Ireland!

Vicky is originally from North Wales, where her fascination with the environment developed. Being surrounded by diverse habitats and species at a young age instilled a deep connection with the natural world, which she loves to share with others. Vicky is now settled in beautiful West Cork, where she enjoys beachcombing and snorkelling (when it’s warm enough!) in her spare time.

Vicky brings a wealth of knowledge and practical experience gained from working in several conservation roles with NGOs, academia and local governments. These roles have spanned the Caribbean, the UK, Ireland, and a British Overseas Territory, Ascension Island. Vicky’s positions have included work on habitat restoration projects, invasive species control and biosecurity projects, species recovery, protection and research, and public engagement campaigns.

Vicky said: “Working with local communities to overcome biodiversity challenges has always been a highlight of my roles. I am incredibly excited to meet people across Ireland and share knowledge and experiences of their local mammal species. By working together, we can learn far more about them and develop new techniques for conserving them.”

With the season of lesser horseshoe bat emergence counts on the horizon, Vicky will be busy organising and supporting volunteers to carry out these vital surveys across VWT bat reserves. These surveys will contribute to the national database and inform future conservation actions for the species. Vicky will also help monitor bat houses in County Limerick, which were installed in 2022 during the Mulkear-EIP Project. This project aims to create habitat corridors to connect lesser horseshoe bat populations, which have become isolated due to habitat fragmentation.

Another of Vicky’s roles will include managing the Irish Stoat Citizen Science Survey. This survey hopes to fill in the gaps in this elusive species’ distribution and allow us to learn more about Irish stoat ecology.

As part of Biodiversity Week 2024, Vicky will be at Abbeyleix, County Laois, on 19 May for VWT’s Pine Marten Event.If you want to learn more about pine martens, then please join us!