Nick joined HiDef in January this year as Chief Executive and after almost 30 years in the marine and offshore industry. Across offshore businesses involved in renewables, autonomy, marine survey, seabed intervention, construction support, decommissioning and product installation with roles in engineering, project management, operations, business development and most recently senior corporate management, Nick brings… Continue Reading
Georg is owner of HiDef and BioConsult SH’s Managing Director, bringing over 30 years of marine environmental research expertise to the team. He obtained his PhD studying eider ducks and mussel populations. In 1998, Georg founded BioConsult SH and since then the company has grown to become one of the leading providers of marine environmental… Continue Reading
Florian is acting as Head of the Marine Renewable Energy Department at Biotope since 2020 and as Non-executive Director at HiDef Aerial Surveying since 2022. As an environmental consultant, Florian has worked other the last 15 years on several fields of expertise : nature reserve and Natura 2000 sites conservation plans, renewable energy (onshore and… Continue Reading
Aidan is HiDef’s Associate Director, he is responsible for the day to day running of the aerial survey and data processing operations which requires him to have adequate resources in place both internally and externally including our aircraft providers and ornithological subcontractors. As well as this, Aidan takes the lead role in maintaining and developing… Continue Reading
Dr Kelly Macleod joined HiDef in May 2021 and is a marine mammal scientist with more than 20 years’ experience. Kelly provides scientific oversight to all our projects and has direct responsibility for the delivery of technical reports, ensuring analytical approaches are appropriate and quality standards and deadlines are met. Kelly’s previous roles, at JNCC… Continue Reading
Tom joined HiDef at the start of 2025 as Commercial Manager with 15 years of commercial experience in the renewables sector and with a global focus on Digital Aerial Survey and Environmental Consultancy for the last 3. Having work on offshore and onshore wind projects, as well as solar and biomass Tom is passionate about… Continue Reading
Natalie graduated in 2012 with a BA Hons degree in Visual Communications and Media Design, over the years has mainly focused on Graphic Design, Video Editing, Marketing and Media Management. As the Marketing and Media Officer at HiDef Natalie will be responsible for the brand management of the business, creating visual content, website and social… Continue Reading
Gary joined HiDef in January 2023 as a Project Manager and has been working with the projects team on management of aerial surveys. He will also be working closely with the Operations and Consultancy teams. He comes from a predominately finance based background, working on large scale regulatory projects as well as having project experience… Continue Reading
With a Master’s in Marine Biology, Jenny began her career as a shark ecologist, spending four years working on marine research and whale shark swim tours in Australia. She then moved into data strategy and marketing, where she honed her leadership and project management skills, managed high-impact client portfolios, and helped drive commercial success. Returning… Continue Reading
Catherine has a background in geography and spatial analysis, having completed an undergraduate degree in geography at the University of Glasgow in 2013. Catherine is our lead project manager, she is responsible for the delivery of a number of HiDef’s high-profile projects, including those for the renewable and conservation sectors. Since joining HiDef in the… Continue Reading
David is responsible for the planning and oversight of a variety of projects. Ensuring all parties are kept up to date and aware of the requirements needed from them. He works closely with the operations team to observe that deliverables are met on time and to scope, whilst administering change controls that effect’s the project… Continue Reading
Anna joined HiDef in June 2022 as a Project Manager. She has a passion for the marine environment with a background in marine biology and ecology, having completed an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter in 2018. Her research involved mapping fish lifecycle biogeography amongst seagrass, mangroves and coral reefs. Anna… Continue Reading
Laura joined HiDef in April 2021 in the Operations team where she was responsible for arranging the flights, training new staff and data management. She joined the projects team in January 2023. She is working with ArcMap and R to produce various reports as well as carrying out general project admin. Laura is passionate about… Continue Reading
Ben joined HiDef in February 2023 as a Project Manager. He brings with him a broad scientific understanding, having completed his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences (with study abroad) at the University of Exeter including marine biology, microbial ecology and operations management. Prior to his role at HiDef, Ben worked as a Scientific Consultant at… Continue Reading
Laura joined HiDef in August 2024 to lead Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Habitats Regulations Appraisals (HRAs) for marine mammals, underwater noise, and seabirds. She has a strong background in marine mammal ecology and risk mitigation, as well as survey design, data analysis, and reporting for the offshore wind sector. Prior to joining HiDef, Laura… Continue Reading
As Principal Consultant, Catriona works with HiDef’s team of data scientists and environmental consultants to produce EIA chapters, HRA reports and technical appendices related to marine ornithology and marine mammal interests, most usually for offshore wind farm clients. Since starting at the company in March 2020, she has been HiDef’s project lead on numerous offshore… Continue Reading
With over 10 years in ecology, Ruth leads on pursuing and developing opportunities to deploy innovative technology for the purposes of ecological monitoring and research (both marine and terrestrial). Her focus is on collaborative solutions; exploring partnerships with external technology providers and international research and development programmes (particularly automated and unmanned data collection methods e.g.… Continue Reading
Jaz manages and leads reporting of ornithology and marine mammal EIAs and HRAs, with a focus on marine renewable energy projects in Scottish waters. As Principal Consultant, she liaises with data scientists, consultants, clients and stakeholders, to provide high quality impact assessments aligning with the latest available guidance and evidence. She has successfully worked with… Continue Reading
Laura joined HiDef in September 2022 as an Ecological Consultant after completing her MSc in Marine Mammal Science from the University of St Andrews. Prior to that, she completed a BSc in Marine Biology and Oceanography from Plymouth University providing her with a broad range of relevant knowledge. Her two most recent research projects focus… Continue Reading
Mairi joined HiDef in June 2021 as an Image Analyst before moving to the Projects team where she was responsible for the planning and management of the many projects carried out by HiDef. She has now joined the Consultancy Team as an Ecological Consultant. Mairi has a background in marine biology gained from her BSc… Continue Reading
Jack joined HiDef in 2023, having spent over 10 years working as a statistician in government. Since starting at HiDef, Jack has focused on embedding reproducible analytical pipelines within HiDef’s processes, along with refining flight height analysis. Jack is a Chartered Statistician, and previously worked as an in-house statistical consultant with a broad remit including… Continue Reading
William joined HiDef in 2022 bringing a range of skills having previously worked in government research agencies and consultancy. Much of his past work has involved working with complex ecological data and developing analytical processes using tools such as the programming language R and ArcMap. He also has extensive experience writing technical reports, peer-reviewed papers,… Continue Reading
Naphon recently joined HiDef in August 2022 as a Data Scientist, after studying an integrated Master’s in Statistics at the University of Glasgow. He began university with a wide interest in statistical topics and through his studies has developed his passion for statistical ecology and spatial modelling, through realising the urgency of working on climate… Continue Reading
Allison recently joined HiDef as Business Administrator in the Consultancy Team. Prior to joining HiDef, Allison was a National Account Manager in the Office Supplies Industry and latterly worked in Lettings and Property Management. Allison’s role within the team will ensure the company admin, project and financial matters run and are monitored smoothly. Continue Reading
Polly joined HiDef in January 2024 as an Ecological Consultant after completing her MRes in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of Leeds. Before that, she gained a BSc in Zoology at the University of Glasgow, acquiring a wide range of relevant knowledge of both ornithology and marine science. Her Master’s research used foraging ranges… Continue Reading
Alice joined the HiDef Science and Consultancy team in February 2024. She has an MSc in Marine Environmental Management, a BSc in Conservation Biology and brings with her a diverse skill set and over 10 years of experience working in science and ecology. Alice has a particular interest in marine mammal research and most recently… Continue Reading
Liam joined HiDef in October 2024 as an Ecological Consultant after reading his MSc in Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Reconstruction at Northumbria University. Liam’s background is primarily finance, having worked in personal financial planning for seven years following his bachelor’s degree. However, he was inspired to change direction in his life and career after living… Continue Reading
Rebecca joined HiDef in 2025, having worked for 10 years as a researcher and field biologist in academia. Much of her past work has involved collecting, analysing, and summarizing complex ecological data for publication in peer-reviewed research journals. This has included work assessing how wild populations of Antarctic fur seals and St Kilda Soay sheep… Continue Reading
Jess Harvey is a Marine Ecology Consultant specialising in environmental impact assessment of marine mammals and seabirds in the offshore renewables industry. She has experience supporting and coordinating a range of primary and secondary consents in the marine environment, across the UK and Ireland. This has included working on the environmental impact assessments for the… Continue Reading
Maria is HiDef’s Australia Program Manager and point of contact for all Australian inquiries. She has started in 2020 as a project manager in the Digital Aerial Survey department of HiDef’s sister company BioConsult SH and has worked up her way to the deputy of the department within no time. As an all-rounder, Maria has… Continue Reading
Josh is one of our Senior Operations assistants and a member of the Operations Department joining us in January 2020. He is passionate about data processing and using data to develop our systems. He is responsible for overseeing the operations assistants and organising surveys on a weekly basis. Continue Reading
Jordan is one of our flight operations team leaders. He joined HiDef in October 2021 as a data reviewer, before progressing to the role of review coordinator in March 2022. He then joined flight operations as a team leader in August 2022 bringing a wealth of data processing knowledge to the department. Jordan has a… Continue Reading
Shannon is one of our Operations Controllers, and a member of the Operations Department joining us in February 2022. She has a large variety of experience and knowledge in various previous roles, which has enabled her to thrive within the team. She is keen on customer relations, and hopes to build on communications both internal… Continue Reading
Claire joined HiDef as a reviewer in November 2021, and joined operations as a secondee in June 2023 where she was responsible for conducting stringent data checks of recent survey data; she was officially appointed as an operations controller in June 2024. Claire has a scientific background having graduated from the University of Northumbria with… Continue Reading
Poppy joined HiDef as a reviewer in November 2021 before moving to flight operations in August 2022 and then on to be a QHSE Support Officer in September 2024. Poppy uses her fantastic memory skills to recall challenges from the past in a way that aided survey planning and data processing efforts. Outside of work,… Continue Reading
Sammy joined HiDef in November 2022. Prior to joining HiDef, Sammy accrued knowledge and skills in customer service and sales, which enables her to excel when communicating with aircraft providers and couriers. Outside of work, Sammy enjoys reading, going to concerts, and getting out in the lakes with her dogs. Continue Reading
Lewis joined the HiDef team in November 2024 as an Operations Controller. Lewis has an extensive background in a variety of different sectors which has enabled him to thrive working within the team. He has years of experience in customer relations roles, in which he puts this to good use within the role. Outside of… Continue Reading
Karen Armstrong joined the HiDef management team in May 2022 as HR Manager. Karen has over 15 years’ experience in HR roles in hospitality, the FMCG sector, leisure, and facilities management. As part of HiDef’s continued expansion Karen will work closely with the HR Officer to provide a dedicated HR function and support the existing… Continue Reading
Paul’s role within HiDef is senior ornithologist, undertaking bird and marine mammal identification, QA and adjudication. He has extensive experience of all marine and wetland species encountered around the north-east Atlantic and the Baltic, and also helps train the ID Team. Paul has identified over 500,000 bird and marine mammal images for HiDef and BioConsult.… Continue Reading
Simon is an Approved JNCC ESAS (European Seabirds at Sea) trainer since April 2010 with over 1000 hours of marine mammal surveys for research projects offshore wind farms, tidal and wave arrays. Adding to his ‘old seadog’ tag, beginning in January 2004 he has completed over 8000 hours (over 1000 days) of European Seabird at… Continue Reading
Torcuil has acquired and developed a range of skills in a career spanning more than 16 years within the environmental consultancy sector. Specialising in ornithology he has also worked for the RSPB, and other NGOs, gaining considerable knowledge and experience undertaking a variety of nationally recognised ornithological surveys. He was Assistant Warden on Fair Isle… Continue Reading
Natalie is one of our review team leaders. Joining HiDef in 2019 as a reviewer, Natalie soon developed a passion for leadership and organisation and stepped into a role to help our growing department.
Alongside Andrea, Natalie runs the day to day of the review department ensuring deadlines are met and projects run smoothly.
Natalie is one of our review team leaders. Joining HiDef in 2019 as a reviewer, Natalie soon developed a passion for leadership and organisation and stepped into a role to help our growing department.
Alongside Andrea, Natalie runs the day to day of the review department ensuring deadlines are met and projects run smoothly.
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