Our Team
Anna Scott-Swift
Director of Ecology
-
Anna is Croft Ecology’s Director of Ecology and brings more than 20 years’ experience to the team. Having worked both in consultancy and as a local authority ecologist, she understands ecological projects from different perspectives and enjoys finding pragmatic solutions that work for clients as well as wildlife.
She has particular experience in planning ecology and bat mitigation, but remains firmly of the view that there is always more to learn. Anna also plays a central role in shaping Croft’s culture, with staff wellbeing and making the four-day working week a success particularly close to her heart.
Outside work, she enjoys climbing, mountain biking, dog walking and generally being outdoors whenever family life allows.
Tony Scott-Swift
Commercial Director
-
Tony is Croft Ecology’s Commercial Director, looking after the business, technology and operational side of the consultancy. He works closely with Anna on the company’s direction and on continually improving the way the team works.
After a long career in technology and IT Service Management, he particularly enjoys building systems, removing unnecessary complexity and creating an environment in which people can do their best work.
He brings a progressive and people-focused approach to running the business, alongside an enduring tendency to question whether there might be a better way of doing things.
Outside work, Tony’s interests range from music and climbing to mountain biking and a busy family life involving children and a slightly excessive collection of pets. He once marked his 50th birthday by writing a blog post every day for a year — fortunately under a pseudonym.
Jeff Grant
Associate Ecologist
-
Jeff has more than 13 years’ experience in ecological consultancy and enjoys the variety that comes with working across different sites and projects. As Associate Ecologist, he combines technical and project oversight with helping to develop Croft’s growing team, and particularly enjoys finding practical solutions when ecological constraints make a project more complicated.
Woodland is Jeff’s favourite habitat, and he is always happy when a project involves trees, climbing or the chance to spend more time working in woodland. One particularly satisfying moment was seeing badgers make use of an artificial sett he had helped design and deliver.
His approach to consultancy is pragmatic and dependable: protecting nature while helping clients find a sensible route through the planning process.
Katy Clark-Goddard
Senior Ecologist
-
Katy enjoys the sheer variety of ecological consultancy: a working week might involve field surveys, report writing, project management and supporting other members of the team. As a Senior Ecologist, she has increasingly taken the lead on larger and more complex projects and particularly enjoys the satisfaction of bringing all the different strands of a project together successfully.
She has a keen eye for detail and a particular interest in botany, an area she has enjoyed developing further through Croft’s recent team training. Katy takes a balanced approach to ecology, looking for options that properly protect habitats and species while giving clients clear and workable choices.
Away from work, she enjoys travelling, walking and camping, spending time at her allotment, and crafts including sewing and floristry.
Charlotte Mathews
Senior Ecologist
-
Charlotte is a Senior Ecologist with around eight years’ experience and particular expertise in protected species work, bat surveys and Preliminary Roost Assessments. She works across a wide range of development projects, helping identify ecological constraints and turn survey findings into clear, practical advice for clients.
Alongside fieldwork and reporting, Charlotte contributes to the review and coordination of ecological work across the team, drawing on experience gained across projects ranging from smaller residential developments to larger commercial schemes.
Her role combines the detailed technical work behind protected species assessment with the practical realities of helping projects progress successfully through planning.
Zachary Mason
Ecologist
-
Zak enjoys the combination of fieldwork and problem-solving that comes with ecological consultancy, from Great Crested Newt surveys to helping clients identify Biodiversity Net Gain enhancements that genuinely benefit both wildlife and the people who will use a site.
He is particularly interested in otters and water voles and is keen to develop his knowledge of habitat creation and management. Within the team, Zak is good at making complicated subjects understandable and enjoys helping colleagues develop their own knowledge and confidence.
He believes good ecological consultancy should find solutions that work for both clients and nature — an approach he particularly enjoys applying to larger BNG projects.
Outside work, Zak enjoys hiking, reading and tabletop games, and is a keen cook who can happily spend a considerable amount of time discussing food and different cuisines.
Dom Riley
Ecologist
-
Dom enjoys getting out on site, working through the numbers behind Biodiversity Net Gain and lending a hand wherever he is needed. His work spans habitat survey, ecological assessment and reporting, and he is currently developing his bat survey skills further with the aim of gaining his bat licence.
Calm, concise and efficient, Dom enjoys working through difficult problems rather than being put off by them. One particularly memorable achievement was finally getting a complicated BNG project over the line after an extended battle with the metric and QGIS.
He believes good consultancy should be professional and trustworthy, but also open to challenge: some of the best solutions come from people being willing to question and debate an approach.
Away from ecology, Dom is a keen football fan and player and, when sport isn't occupying him, is often planning his next trip somewhere rather more exotic.
Michelle Walding-Kelly
Ecologist
-
Michelle particularly enjoys the practical and investigative side of ecology, whether she is out carrying out bat or habitat surveys or back at her desk analysing bat calls, infrared footage and camera data. Her previous research experience has also given her a particularly sharp eye for interpreting animal behaviour on video.
She is currently developing her knowledge of beavers while working towards her CL51 licence — helped considerably by living close enough to a reintroduction site to go looking for the real thing. Michelle particularly enjoys seeing how thoughtful ecological enhancements can transform sites that initially offer relatively little for wildlife.
For her, good consultancy is about finding clear, workable ways for development to work with its surroundings rather than against them.
Outside work, Michelle loves travel, concerts, crafting and animals — particularly her collection of slightly unconventional rescue pets. She is also an enthusiastic Lego builder, preferably when the set is large enough to become a project in its own right.
Melissa Bell
Assistant Ecologist
-
Mel enjoys the fact that no two ecological projects are ever quite alike. Even familiar habitats and survey types bring different challenges, and she particularly enjoys working out practical solutions that allow projects to move forward while protecting and enhancing the environment.
She plays an important role in organising project and bat survey work at Croft and is often the person colleagues turn to for help with equipment, survey preparation and keeping things running smoothly. Mel is also developing her botanical skills and working towards her bat licence — a particularly appropriate direction given that an interest in bats originally helped inspire her move into ecological consultancy.
Outside work, she enjoys hiking, travelling and exploring less accessible places, particularly through caving. She has lived or worked on five of the world's seven continents, although she currently considers Antarctica too cold and Australia too hot to add permanently to the list.
Imogen Holloway
Assistant Ecologist
-
Imogen enjoys the detail involved in turning ecological information into practical plans, particularly preparing Landscape and Ecology Management Plans and producing maps and figures using Coreo and QGIS. She also enjoys putting her botanical identification skills to use in the field and learning new species whenever the opportunity arises.
Meticulous by nature, Imogen brings a careful eye to projects and likes making sure the small but important details aren't overlooked. She is keen to broaden her protected species experience further, including work with badgers, reptiles, amphibians and bats.
She sees good ecological consultancy as finding the right balance between protecting wildlife and habitats and helping clients achieve what they need from a development.
Away from the pace of consultancy, Imogen prefers reading, countryside walks and looking after her plants. She has also survived the rather less relaxing experience of having a spitting cobra spit directly into her face while undertaking conservation work in South Africa.
Toby Bradley
Seasonal Ecologist
-
Toby supports Croft’s field team across a broad range of ecological survey work, gaining hands-on experience across protected species and habitat projects. His work has included Preliminary Roost Assessments, bat emergence surveys and reptile surveys, as well as supporting the wider team with ecological data collection in the field.
The seasonal role provides plenty of variety and the opportunity to build experience across different species, survey techniques and development sites while contributing to the practical delivery of Croft’s busy survey programme.