The Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust is governed currently by a Board of 5 Directors, chaired by Dr Hannele Honkanen. The directors have wide ranging expertise in their particular fields and we have representation from land owner, scientific and angling interests. The list of current directors is as follows:
Jen has both a BSc and M.Res in wildlife ecology, marine biology and conservation, culminating in a Masters thesis addressing trends and movements of rare and elusive stingrays of Mozambique using long-term citizen science observational data from a marine research organisation in Tofo Mozambique. Jen went on to run that marine research organisation in Mozambique from 2019 through to 2023, directing and supervising projects ranging from photo-identification of whale sharks, documentation of rare cetacean stranding events, through to developing the first long-life remote underwater camera to observe some of the Indian Ocean’s rarest and most little-understood wildlife, such as the smalleye stingray and bowmouth guitarfish. Long term data collection on reef fish biomass and biodiversity was among the most valuable information resources, providing vital information for engagement with local communities and collaboration with governing bodies, delivering accessible science to make management decisions to ensure the healthy reef fish population for local sustenance but also a healthy ecosystem to sustain a growing tourism sector.
Jen has moved back to the UK in January 2024 and is completing her Ph.D. answering key dietary and movement questions by biochemical and machine learning techniques at the University of Glasgow. Although a lot of Jen’s work has involved the subtropical oceans, her expertise in project development, passion for nature and practical fieldwork and translation of sound science into practical conservation management by engaging with the general public, landowners through to policy makers will be valuable in this role as biologist in the Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust.
Beth has recently joined the trust as a seasonal assistant biologist. Growing up in Northern Ireland, Beth moved to Scotland to start her undergraduate degree in Zoology. During this time she worked on projects in Trinidad and Tobago and volunteered with the RSPB on an island off the north coast of Ireland.
After completing her Zoology degree at the University of Glasgow in 2021 she stayed on to do her masters in Ecology and Environmental Biology. With an interest in invertebrates and parasitic life cycles, during her masters she completed a project on Lyme Disease focusing on the prevalence and distribution of ticks throughout Aberdeenshire. After recently graduating in December 2023, she’s looking forward to getting involved with projects in the trust.
In her spare time Beth enjoys being outside in nature, hiking, running and bouldering.
