Head of Geographical Information Science
Julie has been with the GWCT since 1995. She grew up on a mixed farm in northeast Nebraska, USA, becoming the first person in her family to go to university. After studying parasitology in the States, Julie boarded a commercial aircraft for the first time to begin a Fulbright year at the University of Glasgow, where she went on to complete a PhD. On seeing the size of London from the air she says: “I really did wonder what I was getting myself into. And for the first three months living in Glasgow, I did not understand a single person in any shop.”
In her role with the Trust, Julie manages the Sussex Study and applies GIS (Geographical Information Science) and statistical analysis to better understand the ecology of grey partridge, arable flora and fauna, using it to provide practical support and conservation advice to farmers and gamekeepers.
“Being involved with the land managers is one of the things I most enjoy about my job,” she says. “I love using data to help provide solutions to problems – that includes not only statistical analysis but also looking at solutions at a landscape scale using maps.”
Career highlights include holding a cliff swallow in western Nebraska, night-time mosquito catches in Thailand, and “my first time counting grey partridges on the Sussex Study area with Dick Potts”. And, she says: “My team is a joy to work with and every year our placement students keep us on our toes and then go off to do some amazing things.”
Reflecting, Julie says: “My mother, who was a teacher as well as a farmer, was adamant that all of her children would attend university and she and my father made sure that we did. However, this meant that I and my sisters left northeast Nebraska and I do miss the wide-open spaces.”
Julie has mentored many students in her time with the GWCT. Asked for any advice she might give her younger self, she says: “Everyone else is just as nervous as you are; do it anyway. Half the battle is just persevering.”