|
Meet the Staff |
||
| Paul Sharman – St Kilda Ranger | ||
|
From an early career as a local authority horticulturalist, ‘green’ ambitions led me into countryside management. Following seasonal positions with the National Trust for England and Wales and Dartmoor National Park I spent eleven years as a hands-on Warden for the National Trust Killerton Estate in Devon; ancestral home of the Dyke-Acland family. Leaving the National Trust in 2000 I remedied my mis-spent youth by going to University as a mature student. I graduated with a Doctorate in Human Geography in 2008, my speciality being the cultural ecology of Britain’s national landscapes. Along the way I collected a BA in Culture, Environment and Landscape, with a Masters in Conservation of Cultural Landscapes. Since then a couple of temporary lecturing positions at agricultural colleges in Devon and Somerset. My personal interests range from just about everything countryside to playing folk music and storytelling. I have been known to venture forth in a sea-kayak and regularly enjoy hill walking and cycling. Previous wondering and wandering has, amongst travels in the US and Europe, taken me to the mountains of Ladakh, the temperate uplands of Cameroon and crossing the Sahara Desert. As 19thcentury benefactor, Thomas Dyke-Acland provided for my former staff cottage as he did for his contemporary St. Kildans. As a wondering newcomer to the islands I follow his wanderings from Devon. |
||
|
||
| Ian McHardy – Archaeologist | ||
|
Ian McHardy is from the Black Isle, Ross-shire. His working life began with three years in the Rope Access Industry, after which he studied Archaeology and graduated as a mature student from Glasgow University in 1999. He has since worked as a self employed archaeologist, digging and/or surveying sites in the central belt and Highlands of Scotland, the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, North Africa and Aotearoa/New Zealand. A period of two to three years travelling around the southern hemisphere and the tropics, always with a keen interest in culture and archaeology, brought wider perspectives. For the last five years he has lived and worked on the Isle of Lewis and been involved in a variety of projects throughout the Western Isles in both research and commercial archaeology; from a comprehensive study of the Archaeology of the Lewis Sea Stacks and Community excavations at the Baile Sear wheelhouses in North Uist to watching briefs, walkover surveys and evaluations in advance of development or forestry. He co-created an art and archaeology project for schools called ‘Artefact’ (in partnership with Ann Lanntair arts centre), which was toured throughout Lewis and Harris in 2009, writes a monthly archaeology column for the Stornoway Gazette and is undertaking personal research into the Callanish standing stones. |
||
|
||
| Gina Prior – Seabird and Marine Ranger | ||
|
After graduating in 2002 with a BSc in Animal Behaviour I decided it was time to gain some hands on practical experience in the ‘real world’. Initially, I worked as a research assistant at Chester Zoo collecting data on the behavior of black rhino and collating questionnaires relating to the welfare of Orangutans. A year later, I was accepted as a volunteer on the Soay Sheep Project on St Kilda and it wasn’t long before I became addicted! In the last eight years I have visited the island on ten occasions to help with all aspects of the research. Each trip provided new challenges and adventures as well as a fantastic opportunity to explore the island a little bit more. Between visits to St Kilda, I had plenty of time to enjoy other work including a summer on Harris as a volunteer on The Hebridean Mink Project and a stint with an ecological consultancy firm in the South of England. With some experience under my belt, I headed back to the classroom. Earlier this year I completed my PhD assessing the impacts of livestock grazing on a common upland passerine (the meadow pipit). Studying allowed me to indulge my interests in natural history, hill walking, bird watching and bird ringing and all these aspects of my life will be helpful as Seabird Ranger. I have always felt privileged to visit St Kilda – I love the place, the community spirit and the wildlife – I really do have my dream job! |
|
|
|
||
| © The National Trust for Scotland | ||
