New Consultant joins STRI’s expanding Ecology & Environment Team

Kelly Watson, Ecological & Environmental Consultant, is the most recent addition to STRI's expanding Ecology & Environment Team working from head office in Bingley.

Kelly has an Honours Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and has completed a period of doctoral study at the University of Nottingham. Her PhD studies had a practical focus and aimed to quantify the effects of aquatic vegetation on river flooding, water velocity and sediment storage. On the golf course, this work has particular significance to sustainable urban drainage systems, reed bed filtration systems and the recycling of waste water.



Prior to joining STRI Kelly worked as an environmental advisor in the Members Research Service at the National Assembly for Wales. Here she gained invaluable knowledge of environmental legislation and statutory designations, particularly the implications of International, European, National and Local environmental designations for land management practices and public access. She also has knowledge of upcoming legislation and grant aid opportunities relating to renewable energy and climate change mitigation.

Through her experience of practical outdoor work on internationally protected nature reserves, Kelly has also acquired specialist knowledge of the management and restoration of habitat types commonly found on golf courses, including: calcareous grassland, heathland, woodland, wetland and aquatic habitats.

STRI have plans to diversify the current range of services offered by their Ecology & Environment Unit, making full use of the additional skills Kelly brings to the existing team.