About us Who's who Trustees Trustees Mr Jonathan Webster (Chairman) Jonathan’s entire profesional career has been spent in the London Insurance Market working in both Lloyd’s and the Company Market environment. His interest in herpetology dates back to as far as he can remember and was nurtured by his father who was a keen herpetologist and founder member of the British Herpetological Society (BHS) which was established in 1947. In 1969 he was involved in the setting up of the Conservation Committee of the BHS and it was largely due to the successes achieved by this committee that led to the formation of the Herpetological Conservation Trust (HCT) in 1989 where he held the position of Vice Chairman and Treasurer. In 2010 he was delighted to be asked to act as Chairman of HCT’s successor organisation namely the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC). He remains an active volunteer and is a regular attendee on ARC’s Sunday volunteer management tasks that are arranged on our Wealden nature reserves. In addition he is a member of the Balkan Herpetological Group and spends as much time as possible on field trips searching out and photographing European herpetofauna. Mr Howard Inns (Vice-Chairman) Howard Inns’ lifelong interest in reptiles and amphibians resulted in his involvement in the early 1980s as an active member of the British Herptological Society’s Conservation Committee. Since then Howard has remained actively involved in practical conservation and monitoring of the species found in Britain, making contributions in the 1990s to the early development of standardised monitoring techniques for reptiles. He continues to monitor populations for rare reptiles and undertake practical conservation on the heaths of SW Surrey close to his home in Farnham Howard’s professional career has been in the UK IT and Telecommunications industry where he has held a variety of senior marketing roles. In his role as Vice Chairman of ARC he is keen to bring some of his communications and management skills to the organisation. He writes the regular reptile and amphibian report in the naturalist’s journal British Wildlife and is always keen to bring important news about ARC’s work into the public eye. Looking to the future Howard’s particular interest for ARC is not only to continue the excellent work the organisation is doing for the rare species but also to accelerate development of monitoring and conservation activity that will mitigate the worrying signs of decline in the more widespread species. Dr Roger Mitchell CBiol FSB (Treasurer) Dr Roger Mitchell is a Trustee of the Charity and the Managing Director of ARC Ecological Services, the Charity’s associated consultancy. He is also Co-Chief editor of the journal ‘Conservation Evidence’, a member of the Conservation Science Group at Cambridge University, Chair of the Cambridge Conservation Forum and a Steering Group member of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. He was Chairman of Natura International, Chief Scientist of Corrour Lands Ltd., Chairman of the Management Board of the Corrour Trust, Environmental Director of the Arcadia Fund and Conservation Advisor to Ingleby Farms. He has also held the posts of International Chief Scientist of the Earthwatch Institute; National Manager of Species and Biodiversity at English Nature; Head of Marine Conservation Science for the Nature Conservancy Council and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee; and Senior Scientist in coastal management in the former Department of the Environment. Roger has also served as Trustee and Director of the European Climate Foundation and the Herpetological Conservation Trust; Director of HSBC Cares for the Environment Fund (Malta); member of Cambridgeshire County Council Local Access Forum; Chief Editor of Aquatic Conservation; Chair of the Marine Conservation Trust; Vice-chair of the Marine Conservation Society; Trustee of the Council for International Contact; and Chief of Staff of the London International Youth Science Fortnight. Mrs Jan Clemons BSc (Hons), MSB Jan has a lifelong interest in herpetology and has been involved in the voluntary sector for over 25 years and one aspect of her job as Head of Biology at Rugby High School has been to raise awareness of our native herpetofauna with the next generation of herpetologists. The school grounds support populations of frog, smooth and crested newts, common lizard and slow worm and is one of the best places in Warwickshire to see amphibians and reptiles. Throughout her teaching career Jan has travelled extensively with numerous A level students and taken part in and led expeditions (both challenging and herpetological) to Japan, Namibia, Peru, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica and Cuba. In the early nineties she chaired the BHS Conservation Committee and honed her skills in surveying rare species such as the sand lizard, smooth snake and natterjack toad. She also had to deal with the politics of herpetology and learnt a lot about working with statutory agencies and the management of nature reserves for reptiles and amphibians. Jan still maintains close links with BHS and is now their Conservation Officer and organises field trips to herpetological hotspots in the UK. Jan has been Chair of Warwickshire Amphibian and Reptile Team for 15 years working for the conservation of herpetofauna at the local level organising surveys and training, publicity for an events programme and safeguarding local sites of reptile and amphibian assemblages. In 2004 Jan became Chair of ARG UK and played a leading role in the development of the organisation. This resulted in the establishment of many Amphibian & Reptile Groups and the network has grown to over 60 groups. Jan still sits on the ARG UK Panel as Treasurer. As an ARC Trustee Jan can offer not only her herpetological knowledge but experience in training and education, working with the voluntary sector, leading and organising conservation projects as well as her enthusiasm and support for the overarching strategy of ARC. Mr Jeremy Bruce, MSc, BA (Hons) Jeremy has spent his career in London and US Investment Banking. He is currently a Managing Director at Societe Generale and previously worked at Morgan Stanley and Nomura. Despite working in banking and finance, Jeremy has always been passionate about conservation, herpetology and amphibian conservation. He has been involved in local amphibian and reptile groups since 1986 and in 2006 he set up the Amphibian Conservation Research Trust to help fund individuals studying and researching amphibian conservation. He is delighted to be a Trustee of ARC, and in particular to bringing an alternative viewpoint and ideas from outside the mainstream conservation world. Mrs Philippa Perry MBE Pip has had a long association with amphibian and reptile conservation in North Wales and a strong association with community engagement with wildlife conservation. She established the Deeside Urban Wildlife Group (later to form North East Wales Wildlife) before becoming a Trustee of ARC in 2011. Pip has a particular interest in ensuring effective conservation of wildlife associated with building development. She has provided commercial consultancy advice (and in particular in connection with great crested newts) and is a founding Trustee of the Building Wildlife Trust that looks to develop well designed and properly supported schemes that aim to develop practical approaches to conserving wildlife associated with development proposals. Pip is also a trustee of the Flintshire Voluntary Council. She was awarded an MBE for services to amphibian conservation in North Wales. Prof. Richard Griffiths Richard Griffiths is Professor of Biological Conservation at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent, where he is currently Academic Head and Director of Graduate Studies. Richard has managed conservation projects in Britain, Europe, Latin America, and Madagascar. Research interests focus on the population ecology and conservation of threatened amphibians and reptiles. This includes long-term work on population changes and investigations into the effectiveness of translocations and development mitigation actions. Richard is a Fellow of the British Herpetological Society, Chair of the International Herpetological Committee of the World Congress of Herpetology and an Honorary International Conservation Research Fellow at Durrell Wildlife (Jersey). He is also a member of IUCN and an advisor and trustee to several international conservation organisations. Robert Jehle Robert Jehle is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Salford. Robert has a childhood interest in amphibian conservation, and conducts research which often combines fieldwork with genetic approaches. He has been involved in studies on all three amphibian orders, covering wild populations from Europe, Africa, Central & South America, and Asia. In the UK, the main focus is devoted to conservation-relevant research on great crested newts and common toads. Robert is a former editor of the Herpetological Journal, and a current associate editor of Animal Conservation. Robert is also currently a member of the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Herpetology, a member of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group, as well as a council member of the Tropical Biology Association. Prof. Trevor Beebee Trevor Beebee is emeritus professor of molecular ecology at Sussex University. He has worked on the ecology and conservation of amphibians, especially natterjack toads, since the early 1970s and has written over 150 scientific papers and several books including, with Richard Griffiths, the latest, New Naturalist volume on British Amphibians and Reptiles. He has served as editor of the Herpetological Journal and as chair and president of the British Herpetological Society. He has been actively involved in amphibian conservation monitoring and management and initiated the Natterjack Toad Site Register, a database of all British natterjack toad populations. In 2009 he received the Peter Scott Memorial Award, for contributions to amphibian conservation, from the British Naturalist association.