Autumn is a time of change in the natural world, but it's also one of change among the management team here at Minsmere.
Last week we bid farewell to our Visitor Operations Manager, Louise Gregory, who many of our visitors will know well. Louise has moved just up the coast to work for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust at Carlton Marshes, where she will be managing their new visitor centre when it opens next spring. This is a very exciting opportunity for Louise, and we wish her all the best.
I'll leave you with a few words from Louise, but first let me introduce to our new Senior Site Manager, Nick Forster, who joined us last week. Nick fills the void created when his predecessor, Adam Rowlands, became the RSPB Suffolk Area Manager last year. Again, it's easier to let Nick introduce himself.
Hello to Nick Forster
After thirty years of regular visits to Minsmere and Dingle Marshes, it is hugely exciting to have been appointed as Senior Site Manager for these two sites and for North Warren, which is a site I know far less well.
I have left land-locked, suburban Oxford behind for this beautiful coastline and countryside and am looking forward to getting to know the area as a resident, rather than a passage migrant!
I have a great deal of experience of managing teams and projects, small and large. My career has been largely in biodiversity conservation, including spells working with BTCV as a Regional Manager and BBOWT as Head of Conservation and Education. I spent over seven years with The Tubney Charitable Trust, where among many grants supporting UK biodiversity priority species and habitats, we funded infrastructure works at Dingle, alongside several major land acquisitions by RSPB.
I look forward to meeting as many of the team of volunteers and staff at Minsmere as I can over the next few weeks and, in the longer term, helping the team to make Minsmere even more wonderful.
And goodbye from Louise Gregory
It’s been a joyous journey!
After working at RSPB Minsmere for nearly 11 years, it is time for me to move onto pastures new.
No, not Scotland…well not yet! The Suffolk Wildlife Trust are building a brand-new Visitor Centre at their Carlton Marshes nature reserve near Lowestoft, where I’ll be taking up the new role of Visitor Experience and Centre Manager.
It is a very exciting opportunity for me to build the experience and operation from the ground up.
It has been a privilege to work with such an amazing, committed team of volunteers and staff at Minsmere, I have made so many friends. Whilst I am heartbroken at leaving so many wonderful people behind, I’m not going far. Minsmere will still be my local reserve. I am particularly looking forward to enjoying Minsmere as a visitor and not having to worry about the water or the toilets!
Thank you to my team, and everyone at Minsmere and the Suffolk Area Team who have made working at Minsmere fun and rewarding over the years.
I am hoping that the RSPB and SWT will be able to work even closer together in the future, so do pop in and see me.