The full time staff team at the Trust is made up of a dedicated mix of paid and largely volunteer placements. All our staff are skilled in their fields and work for the Trust full time but most do so at their own cost and give a huge amount to help support Alderney's Wildlife. With this in mind it is very important to us to credit both volunteers and paid staff equally, especially as they share responsibilities equally. The Trust would ask that everyone please respect and value the effort made by all our staff and, where possible, please let them know you appreciate them!
Roland Gauvain: Trust CEO
.jpg)
Roland moved from his position as Conservation Officer for the States of Alderney (the island’s local government) to become the AWT's Manager at its inception in 2002. A graduate of Stirling University, his interests lie across a wide range of conservation and ecological subjects, although he has a passion for Alderney’s cultural landscape.
Perhaps most notably Roland continues to use his background of driving tractors, animal husbandry and qualifications as the aux skipper for the Trust's boat, as an excuse for not spending time in the office.
Lindsay Pyne: Trust Secretary
Lindsay was born and grew up only 35miles from Alderney on the island of Jersey. She moved from there to London where she developed a career in banking administration, before returning to the Channel Islands and becoming a full time Alderney resident in 2002. She became one of the AWT's first Conservation Volunteers that same year and was elected its Hon. Secretary in 2005.
Lindsay is involved in many aspects of the AWT’s day-to-day running, both in the office (including membership, treasury and the shop), and out in the field where she assists with the Conservation Volunteers and is involved in terrestrial survey work, primarily for flora (she is a keen amateur botanist) and for the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme.
Dr. Mel Broadhurst: Living Seas Coordinator
Mel graduated with a BSc in Coastal Marine Biology in 2003 from Hull University and an MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation in 2005 from Edinburgh, Napier University. Mel moved to Alderney in 2007, working as the trust’s ecologist until mid-2008, where she began a PhD with Imperial College London. The PhD examined the influence of marine tidal energy development upon the marine environment, for which was based on Alderney and the Orkney Isles. Her current research interests focus on how marine species interact with natural and anthropogenic pressures and how to quantitatively record mobile species’ behaviour within the marine environment. In between academic life, Mel has worked on a range of marine ecological projects and academic field courses across different tropical and temperate locations, including Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, France, Scotland and Lancashire.
As the trust’s Living Seas Officer, Mel is responsible for delivering the trust’s Living Seas programme, which comprised of implementing marine research and surveys with key groups and universities. This includes engagement activities with local and UK government, other bodies and the public on marine issues (i.e. MPAs, renewables, fisheries and recording marine life). Mel is also responsible for the ecological works associated with the trust’s consultancy firm, Alderney Wildlife Trust Enterprises Ltd.
Justin Hart: Avian Ecologist
Justin brings a broad range of skills and knowledge to his role within the trust. His experience working with wildlife spans more than 30 years and includes academic research, practical conservation work as well as eco-tourism. In 1989 he graduated from Southampton University with a degree in geology and initially sought work in the mining industry in both Zimbabwe and Australia before returning to the UK to pursue a more ethical career in conservation.
On his return he attended agricultural college to study practical habitat management and began training to ring birds. In 1993 he got a job as a field technician with a government agency where he stayed for a further 17 years eventually leaving a fully qualified bird ringer with experience in surveying and tracking a wide variety of birds and mammals as well as a masters degree in behavioural ecology from Manchester University and several peer-reviewed articles under his belt. Over the same period he also discovered scuba diving and fell in love with the sea. In his free time he acquired various diving and boat handling qualifications and used these to open new doors into the marine sector and eco-tourism. Leaving the UK in 2010 he set up home in the Azores to work as a whale watching and dive guide. There he led dives around the coast of Pico island as well as offshore with sharks and mobula rays. He also undertook seabird studies with the local university. Then in 2016 he returned to the UK to work as a residential volunteer with the RSPB before taking on the role of assistant warden with the AWT's new bird observatory project in 2017. Here he helped the observatory gain its accreditation from the Bird Observatories Council but decided to stay with the trust when the observatory became a private entity in 2019.
Since then he has continued to provide the trust with science based evidnce to support its conservation goals, as well as practical assistance, advice and advocacy. Your most likely to see him outside surveying, if you're up early in the morning, or perhaps on a boat trip to Burhou and Les Etacs, where he seems most happy ... on the sea and among the birds he loves.
Claire Thorpe: Head of Outreach
Claire studied biology at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2013. Her main focus being ecology modules, leading to a dissertation on the effects non-native tree species can have on biodiversity. A year off included volunteering for the Wildlife Trust in the Scilly Isles and teaching English in China.
Claire then completed her MSc in Conservation at UCL. Her thesis looked at the policy and objectives behind a marine protected area in Jamaica, and research involved interviews with politicians, researchers and community members. Post-graduation Claire worked for a natural health charity as their campaign coordinator, gaining experience in article writing, social media and communications.