Living Seas team

An incredible network of Living Seas volunteers

BETH THOMPSON - ENGAGEMENT OFFICER (WTSWW)

“I initially became involved as a Living Seas Intern with Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre in 2018, whilst taking a year out after graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford. I then spent a year travelling, working and volunteering in New Zealand and Australia. A highlight of my time abroad would have to be the three-month internship I completed with Flinders University, studying the bottlenose and humpback dolphin populations off the north-west cape of Australia. I’ve been a part of the staff team since January 2020, and am responsible for both marine memory collection, and outreach and engagement activities, across south and west Wales.”

DAWN THOMAS - PROJECT OFFICER (NWWT)

“I grew up on the beach on Anglesey, almost, so it was no surprise that I ended up working to help conserve marine wildlife. After studying at Bangor University, I volunteered for the North Wales Wildlife Trust and became the second member of the marine team in 2015. I joined the Living Seas Wales Project Team in 2018 and I manage the volunteers and lead on the sea and me aspect of the project.”

EVE GRAYSON - ENGAGEMENT OFFICER (NWWT)

“Although having more of a terrestrial background in conservation, I have very much fallen in love with all things marine since moving to north Wales in 2018, experiencing several spectacular sea encounters since. Watching Risso’s dolphins playfully splashing about off the coast of Anglesey and swimming in luminous phosphorescence at night being my most favoured. My main role is to organise and implement engagement events in order to enthuse both locals and visitors about the wildlife and heritage of the Welsh coast and sea.”

LAURA EVANS - PROJECT OFFICER (WTSWW)

” I have always been passionate about marine wildlife and after completing a Zoology degree at Bangor University I spent time as an intern at the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute in Sardinia. I then undertook a masters degree in Animal Behaviour at Exeter University. I joined the volunteer team at Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre in 2015 before joining the staff team in July of that year. I have been working on the Living Seas Wales project since April 2018 and I’m responsible for our amazing team of volunteers.”

“I like nothing more than being by the sea, being on the sea or being in the sea and have a lifelong love for all things marine. I studied Zoology with Marine Zoology followed by an MSc in Ecology at Bangor University and have been working on the Living Seas Programme at North Wales Wildlife Trust since 2007. I oversee our current conservation and education projects and develop, implement and manage the Trust’s Living Seas strategy. I have been involved in the development and coordination of the Living Seas Wales Project since 2016.”

SARAH PERRY PROJECT MANAGER (WTSWW)

“The sea and all things marine (especially Cardigan Bay bottlenose dolphins) is what inspires me! I studied Zoology at the University of Liverpool and then went on to be involved in marine conservation in west Wales, volunteering at the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre (CBMWC) in New Quay in 2003. I then worked as Project Manager at CBMWC, leading on the marine conservation research and outreach work. I carried out my PhD at Aberystwyth University which focused on developing predictive habitat models of marine megafauna distribution in the Irish Sea and have been heading up The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales’ (WTSWW) Living Seas Team since 2013. I have been involved in the development and coordination of the Living Seas Wales project in the south since its inception in 2016.”