Staff Biographies

During the season Aigas employs up to 22 people who work closely together to ensure the place runs to the high standards we expect. Everyone helps everyone else and there is a strong team spirit here. 

Overseeing it all, are our two Directors - Sir John and Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye.

Sheila Kerr and Frances MacLeman both live locally and look after the office work of the Field centre.

Also office-bound is Amy Page our fundraising officer.

The field staff team consists of:

Robin Noble - Guest leader
Dr David Dixon - Guest leader
Jonathan Willet - Guest leader

Warwick Lister-Kaye, director of Rolling Earth Travel, runs our Overseas Tours.

Estate Maintenance is handled by Hugh Bethune.

 Sir John Lister-Kaye

Sir John Lister-Kaye is one of Scotland’s best-known naturalists and writers on wildlife and nature conservation. He is a Times columnist and the author of seven books on his work with wildlife. His best-selling non-fiction ‘Song of the Rolling Earth’, was published in March 2003, and his latest, Nature’s Child in April 2004.

In a 30 year nature conservation career he is an honorary Vice President of RSPB, was for seven years the Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage for the Highlands & Islands, is a former President of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Chairman of the government’s Environmental Training Organisation. In 1986 he won the World Wilderness Foundation’s gold award for environmental education; he has received honorary doctorates from St Andrew’s and Stirling Universities and in 2003 he was awarded the OBE for services to nature conservation.

He has lectured on conservation and environmental politics on three continents; has led exciting expeditions to wilderness areas like the Kalahari Desert, Anũ Nuevo Island in the Pacific, and the Atlas mountains. In March 2003 he took Hermione, his wife, Lucy, and his daughter Amelia to Svalbard to follow the polar bear migration across the pack ice, only 350 miles from the North Pole. He has just returned from the Galapagos and the Amazon Basin.

Lady Lister-Kaye

Lady Lucy is a local girl. Her mother was a Mackintosh of Balvraid and a close cousin to the chiefs of Clan Mackintosh at Moy. The Mackintoshes played a prominent role in the Jacobite uprising which culminated in the defeat of Gaeldom at Culloden in 1746. A square of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s plaid has been handed down to Lucy and is on display at Aigas.

Lucy runs the household at Aigas, master-minding the cooking and preparing the menus, somehow finding time to bake cakes and supervise her domestic staff, as well as being mother to seven children and an extended family of eleven.

In between times she is a JP for the Highlands and is very active in fundraising for the Highland Hospice. (See Aigas Cook-book). But her passion is the garden. She has created the Aigas gardens single-handed (with engineering support from John and the family) and continues to extend them year on year.

Sheila Kerr - The Indispensable Field Centre Secretary

Sheila's career path demonstrates her multi-talents. Originally she trained in catering, but decided to make a career change, working her way up to PA with the National Trust for Scotland in Edinburgh. Later she developed her expertise in book keeping by running her own businesses; first a filling station, then a hotel in the Inverness area.

While Sheila's daughter (Mhairi) was at school she worked part time painting pewter miniatures and doing secretarial work from home.

Sheila has a particular interest in traditional Scottish music – she plays the accordion in a local Ceilidh Band (cnocciuil). Sheila also enjoys walking and gardening.

Frances MacLeman - Programme Assistant

Amy Page - Fundraising Officer

Amy moved to Strathglass in January 2005 from Yorkshire and lives locally in the village of Tomich. She has a background in the voluntary sector including development, funding and volunteer support. As our Fundraising Officer, Amy is tasked with securing long and short term funding to ensure the sustainability of the environmental education work we deliver at Aigas. In her free time Amy will be found walking in the surrounding glens with her trusted sidekick Jake (dog).

Morag Smart - Education Manager

Morag has loved wildlife and the outdoors since a young age, and as an education officer is particularly enjoying showing the many young people that come through the Aigas gates the wonders that can be found lurking in its midst (especially the smaller, creepy-crawly variety of things…).

She has an MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation and has carried out a variety of voluntary work with, amongst others, the RSPB, National Trust, the Thames Explorer Trust in London, the City of Edinburgh Council Rangers and Earth Calling (a wildlife after-school club run in her home town of Edinburgh). She has travelled to the Philippines, surveying wildlife in the rainforest and working with local people to produce a sustainable management plan for the area. She had an amazing time there (despite being trailed by ants everywhere she went, and having an inability to climb into a hammock without falling out…).

This is her fourth season at Aigas, and she was lucky enough to spend the winter season between-times working as conservation warden on the busy and wildlife-fantastic Sea Lion Island. She is still suffering from penguin withdrawal symptoms. 

Philip Knott - Staff Naturalist

Phil joined the Aigas team in November 2006. He may be a long way from his native south-west England, but his love for Scotland and its fantastic wildlife has been proven by spells of long-term volunteering for the RSPB in Orkney and Shetland, as well as prolonged stints at bird migration hotspots Fair Isle and North Ronaldsay Bird Observatories. Phil went back to work on Fair Isle in 2006, and rates Shetland as his number one wildlife destination. He is delighted to take Aigas groups there through the Shetland programme every June.

All of this followed his graduation from the University of Plymouth with a BSc Geography. During his spare time at university, he was an active member of many local natural history groups, and undertook large amounts of conservation volunteering. Since then he has not looked back, turning his favourite hobby into a career. Being based at Aigas, Phil considers himself to be the luckiest naturalist in the country and is subsequently never short of a smile, except when he checks the Bristol Rovers FC result every Saturday evening!

In recent years Phil has travelled to some of the most unspoilt corners of Europe, with trips to Norway, Lapland, Bulgaria and Romania. Despite the amazing wildlife sightings we all enjoyed in 2008, seeing Killer Whales in Shetland was Phil’s highlight.

Ian Sargent - Programme Manager

Although Ian was born in Kent he has been visiting the Highlands of Scotland with his family for as long as he can remember. His love for the Highlands and its environment took him to study ecology at the University of Aberdeen, which gave him the opportunity to learn and explore Scotland’s wildlife. During this time his family moved to Helmsdale in the north east highlands where they are now based.
After graduating Ian gained valuble experience volunteering while he travelled the world, including work in Canada mapping park paths and restoring plantation woodland, and in Australia as part of a University of South Australia project re-introducing wallabies.

Ian has since worked for the Central Science Laboratory in Cornwall, where he took part in a series of mammal surveys for badger, fox, deer, hare and hedgehogs before joining the Aigas Ranger Scheme.

Ian is a keen photographer, and in his spare time enjoys walking and photographing the local wildlife and landscapes. He can often be seen coasting down the strath on his bike or sometimes pedalling frantically in preparation for an upcoming race.

 Donald Shields - Field Officer

We are particularly delighted to welcome Donald to the Aigas team as he is a  fluent speaker of Scots Gaelic and, in addition, seems to have an amazing ability to correctly guess the diameter of trees! Hailing originally from Glasgow, he moved to the Highlands at the age of ten. Having family ties to the Isle of Skye, Donald has also been active in many aspects of highland life, playing Shinty for both Inverness and Aberdeen University Camanachd for many years, as well as competing in both local and national mods.

Donald has been fascinated by nature since childhood and graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2004 with an honours degree in Zoology. He has had experience of hill-farming, having assisted a local crofter on Skye in the past.

Since university, Donald has had a variety of jobs, from working on a country estate, to manual labour, but has worked as a laboratory technician for the past two years. Donald also enjoys reading and music, and makes a brave attempt at playing the guitar. 

Faith Hillier - Education Officer

Faith helps deliver environmental education to our school groups and leads adult groups in the field. Faith enjoys music and completed a Music Degree at Cardiff University in 2002. She went on to be a Music Practice Supervisor at Wells Cathedral School before completing a Primary PGCE at Gloucestershire University in 2005. With a lifetime interest in wildlife, Faith volunteered at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetland Trust in the environmental education. In 2007 she moved to Scotland for six months to work for the RSPB as an Osprey Information Assistant at Loch Garten Osprey Centre. This was followed by three months of residential volunteering at RSPB Leighton Moss Reserve in Lancashire. She enjoys hiking and photography in her spare time.

Alicia Leow-Dyke - Seasonal Ranger

Alicia is originally from Stratford-upon-Avon and has been interested in natural history from a young age. She graduated from Cardiff University with a BSc (Hons) in Zoology, followed by an MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation at Imperial College London, where she was based at the Silwood Park campus and was constantly surrounded by wildlife. Her studies have allowed Alicia to combine her interests in ecology and conservation with travelling, where she investigated the habitat requirements of endemic and threatened bird species in the jungles of Indonesia. This not only involved conducting bird censuses, but also eating ants for breakfast! The subject of her next thesis was on the biodiversity of fig wasps in Australia. Since university Alicia has volunteered with the Wildlife Trust and worked for an ecological consultancy surveying and rescuing great crested newts and reptiles. In her spare time Alicia enjoys walking, reading, photography and she is currently learning to play the guitar.

Elspeth Ingleby - Seasonal Head Ranger

Hailing from rural Cheshire, Elspeth has always been fascinated in wildlife, but hadn’t really considered a career in conservation until she studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. After spending a summer in the cloud forest of Honduras and specialising her degree in Zoology, she had found her vocation. Since graduating in 2007, Elspeth gained experience of practical habitat management by volunteering full time on Flat Holm Island before moving up to Glencoe to become a volunteer ranger for the National Trust for Scotland. Working in the Highlands was a dream come true and she became fascinated with the special ecology and wildlife of this spectacular area. After a stint of rhododendron bashing on the Isle of Arran, Elspeth is overjoyed to return to northern Scotland for another season. In her spare time, Elspeth enjoys orienteering and hill walking, so hopes to exploit the wonderful local areas. More relaxing hobbies include baking, singing and attempting to learn how to use her camera

Gareth Davies - Seasonal Ranger

A lowland Scot with a Welsh name and an English accent, Gareth was born and raised in deepest, darkest Midlothian and spent the majority of his childhood sitting in trees and falling into burns. He went to the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and gained a BSc in Wildlife Biology in 2006. Following some work on animal welfare, he travelled to the other side of the globe and volunteered in return for food and board on a Kiwi bird sanctuary in the New Zealand bush. He then worked assisting bird research on a variety of species in the Australian outback and tropical zone (and even got paid sometimes). Since this Gareth has worked in Essex catching snakes, lizards and newts for a consultancy firm and volunteered with the Scottish Wildlife Trust before joining the Aigas team. His honours project fieldwork (on Red squirrels) was in the Highlands and since returning to the country he's been trying to find an excuse to move here. Gareth loves music; playing guitar and singing at anyone who doesn't run away fast enough. He's an avid reader and talks too much. He loves the natural world and is never happier than when stuck in some remote wilderness (with a cup of tea of course!).

Jennifer Dunn - Education Officer

Jennifer first became interested in the outdoors when she was very young. Born in Bridgend, she came to know and love the surrounding countryside including the Glamorgan Heritage coast and family holidays to unspoilt areas in Scotland inspired and developed her interest. In the summer 2002 Jennifer followed her passion and endeavoured on a five week expedition to Peru with BSES. This life changing experience involved undergoing conservation projects in the Pacaya Samiria National Nature Reserve. After graduating in Ecology at the University of Bangor she spent a season working at an outdoor education centre based in the sunny location of Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck. Jennifer then naturally went on to gain further experience with The National Trust for Scotland with properties located in the rugged wilderness of Glencoe and on the Isles of Arran. These experiences gave her an in-depth understanding of Scotland’s unique wildlife, history and geology and she hopes to continue learning more. Jennifer’s interest in the environment has led her to develop her hobbies in wildlife painting and sketching out in the field with particular attention to birds and moths! She is also attempting to learn the tin whistle!

Sue Hodgson - Part-time Education Officer

Sue has joined the Aigas team this year. She moved up to the Highlands in 2007 from Cheshire, with her husband and two young boys, and now lives locally in Struy. She has previously worked as a classroom assistant with infants, been a Cub Leader, loves landscape gardening and also sells children’s books. The family hobbies are hill walking, local wildlife and looking after their dogs, cats and hens. She is also an extremely good cook!

 Hayley Jack - Part-time Education Officer

 Hayley lives in the Black Isle with her fisherman husband and young son. She has previously worked as a Park Ranger at a wildlife park, an Environmental Scientist and as a Chimney Sweep – she’s still not quite sure how she fell into the latter occupation but loved every sooty minute, especially climbing on roofs! Hayley enjoys illustrative drawing, and is making her first forays into the world of writing children’s books. In her spare time she enjoys walking and running around after her wee boy.

Robin Noble - Guest Leader

Robin’s Highland credentials are pretty good; his mother’s family came from Cawdor and Orkney, he has known the Highlands and Islands all his life, and has lived in Assynt, Orkney, Strathglass, Skye, and, once again, is resident in the inspirational Parish of Assynt. From his grandmother and parents he derived a great interest in the whole wide sweep of the Highland landscape, including the creatures and people who have lived here since the Ice Age. He has taught and lectured on basic geology, geomorphology, environmental history, archaeology, history and natural history in highland Field Centres, and universities in Stirling and Glasgow. His book, North and West, is a very readable introduction to these various aspects of the landscape about which he is so enthusiastic. His in-depth studies of ancient woodland in the Highlands have made him into an acknowledged expert in this field.

Dr David Dixon - Guest Leader

When not doing his day job, David is a keen natural history film maker and he is currently collaborating with wildlife producer and author Andrew Cooper on the making of a film on the badger for BBC Two’s Natural World series. A Londoner by birth, where the only wildlife at the time was bronchitic pigeons and soot-stained sparrows, he eventually became disenchanted with ‘the smoke’ and moved with his wife, Linda, to Devon, where they raised their family in a large rambling house filled with hawks, hedgehogs and honey! However, David still maintains a link with the metropolis through his membership of the Council of London Zoo. A regular contributor to BBC Wildlife Magazine, David is able to call upon a rare blend of science and natural history knowledge in his articles, talks and various field activities. Despite having written over 100 scientific papers plus several book chapters on a variety of topics ranging from honey bee behaviour during the solar eclipse to the special adaptations of the bizarre organisms that live around boiling hot, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, David is particularly proud of his recent discovery of lunar behaviour in the badger; a project which is being carried on from the extremely comfortable badger hide at Aigas.

In 2009 you can join David on our Wild Animals in the Scottish Landscape week (May 23rd - 30th) and our Monarchs of the Glen week (Oct 3rd - 10th).

Jonathan Willet - Guest Leader

Jonathan is a proud Scot from near Glasgow. His career as a naturalist started in front of the TV. He was an avid fan of exotic nature documentaries and full of all manner of animal and plants facts. After leaving school he still harboured a desire to be the next David Attenborough (the man will not retire!) but his appreciation of nature became very much first hand. He gained much knowledge and understanding of Scotland’s biodiversity through his University degrees, volunteering on Nature Reserves and finally, paid work rangering. 

Warwick Lister-Kaye

Warwick has loved travel since the time that he climbed into a helicopter aged six and was flown once around the local fairground. He was brought up in the Highlands of Scotland by parents that lived and breathed the tourism industry and for whom quality and service were daily aspirations.

Aged nineteen he mustered sheep and cattle in Western Australia and The Northern Territory for a year before returning to Britain and starting a career as an Officer in the British Army. He served for six years with The Highlanders during which time he negotiated sensitive disarmament agreements with bands of militia in the hills of Kosovo, patrolled Northern Ireland before the ceasefire and trained hundreds of recruits.

During his military career he found time to travel all over Europe, South East Africa, East Asia and the United States. Retiring as a Captain, he set off to South America and travelled through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru - during this time he fell in love with the continent, its diversity and peoples.

Apart from helping his father's tourism business on and off for years, Warwick has also worked for tour operators in Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

Favourite Place - sitting with my friend, Mohammed Hamed, in his Bedouin tent in Sinai, drinking sweet tea and smoking shisha.

Hugh Bethune - Estate Maintenance

Hugh is a native Highlander living on the Black Isle (gods own country). He is a proud parent and grand-parent married to Karen who is a kilt maker by profession.

Hugh has worked at Aigas for the past twelve years. Duties include maintenance of cabins and other property, upkeep of grounds round the house – grass cutting, fencing, tree felling and other jobs connected to estate work. Any spare time Hugh has he enjoys walking, cycling, reading, war films and especially westerns, and a good malt whisky.