Profile
Richard Birch
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About Me:
I’m a grown-up naturalist. I’ve been interested in nature since I was a small child. I had a pond tank in my bedroom and draws full of fossils. Now, as a grown-up, I work hard to preserve some of the natural world for the next generation, so they can enjoy a little of the thrill I had when I found out something AMAZING about nature.
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I am a Botanist – just like that guy in that film ‘The Martian‘ (only better). But I’m also a palaeontologist and an ecologist: that last one is how I earn my living.
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My pronouns are:
Doctor
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My Work:
I do my best to stop developers, economists, real-estate managers, farmers and anyone else hell-bent on destroying the world we all have to live in!
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For every house, road, office block, chicken farm or barn conversion that gets built, the developer must give something back to the environment in the form of a concession (I take something away, therefore I must give something back). This is called ‘MITIGATION’. It is an essential part of the planning process if you want to grow up in a world where there are still plants, birds, animals and fish.
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My Typical Day:
A Typical Day? No such thing! Today (March 4th) I had to watch a bridge for an hour to see if Peregrine Falcons were using it to nest (I saw one, but its too early to say they’re nesting). That was before breakfast. Then I had to do some office work – reporting on the bridge works, timesheet, risk assessment – and then I had to supervise a crew of chainsaw-wielding workers removing willows from a pond to stop it drying out, so that newts and dragonflies like Keeled Skimmer
can still live in it. -
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…but I might also
be climbing about in a loft looking for bats, or watching and listening for birds in land to be developed, or working out how good a field is for wildlife by counting the number of plant species in it. -
What I'd do with the prize money:
Oh heck! I don’t do this for a prize! I’d give it to a wildlife charity.
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Education:
An ordinary comprehensive school in a new town in the south-east (even though I passed my 11-plus and was offered a place at a posh Grammar school);
Night classes for A levels in English Literature and Psychology;
College to study for a Diploma in Horticulture (growing plants);
University to study a Batchelor of Science in Botany;
Ph.D in chocolate! (actually a disease of cocoa, but I did get to eat a lot of chocolate!)
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Qualifications:
Formally, its:
Doctor Richard Birch CEcol (Chartered Ecologist), NDH (National Diploma in Horticulture), RHSc. (Royal Horticultural Society certificate).
You might add BSc. (Batchelor of Science in Botany – 1st class Honours), MCIEEM (Member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management) and some others I forget what they’re for. It gets silly after that…
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Work History:
Oh I’ve been a Dairy Herdsman, a Tyre Fitter, a Lorry Driver, a Fork-lift Driver, an Auxiliary Nurse, an Occupational Therapist, a Full-time Botanist, an Ecologist and… well, I’m still an Ecologist.
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Current Job:
I’m still an Ecologist.
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Employer:
Ecoscope Ltd
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Tall, dark, ugly.
What did you want to be after you left school?
A journalist.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Heck yes! Proper little oick I was.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Spitfire pilot
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Show of Hands (a contemporary folk group)
What's your favourite food?
Porridge
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. Own my own farm; 2. Better teeth 3. A mechanical arm like the Bionic Man
Tell us a joke.
'Doctor, I think I'm going mad'. 'Well let's see: your ECG shows normal cerebral activity; blood pressure and blood sugar are normal. No sign of urinary infection and heart rate perfectly normal. I'm going to recommend further tests.'
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