Sam joined BSG Ecology’s Newport office in March 2025. He has experience in a range of protected species surveys, including great crested newt, reptile, otter, water vole, pine marten, and bats. He regularly undertakes bat activity and roost emergence surveys and is proficient in the use of bat call analysis software and R for ecological data analysis.
Sam holds a BSc in Environmental Science from The Open University and an MSc in Global Ecology and Conservation from Cardiff University, where he achieved a distinction. His postgraduate research focused on reptile use of restored peatland habitats, and his innovative survey methods were showcased at the IUCN Peatland Programme Conference 2024.
He has gained international field experience through a research assistantship at the Danau Girang Field Centre in Borneo, where he worked on conservation projects involving reptiles, amphibians, primates, and small mammals. Most notable of which were catching and installing radio/ GPS tags to pangolins and leopard cats to better understand their movements between secondary forests and human altered plantations. He developed a novel non-invasive camera trap method (“Tillett Trap”) for monitoring cryptic species, which has been successfully trialled in tropical rainforest, peatland, and woodland environments.
Sam has also volunteered with the RSPB and The Lost Peatlands Project in South Wales, assisting with habitat and species surveys, including bats and reptiles. He is passionate about biodiversity monitoring and habitat restoration and is keen to begin bird ringing, currently working towards obtaining a T permit.