In addition to our aerial survey work, HiDef offers project consultancy advice. We have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of scientific research and the ecological side of the planning system. We offer a comprehensive service to help deliver the outcomes that you need.

The HiDef Consultancy Team offer a comprehensive ecologically and scientifically sound service to help deliver the outcomes that you need to support consent decisions. We provide expert services to a wide range of Clients, including offshore industries, Government and statutory nature conservation bodies and we actively collaborate on research projects in partnership with Universities and other research bodies.

HiDef consultancy services include:

• Onshore and offshore ornithological and marine mammal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment / Appraisal (HRA);
  • Production of ES & RIAA chapters and technical appendices;
  • Digital Aerial Surveys (DAS) bird & mammal distribution & abundance;
  • Displacement analysis, Collision Risk Modelling (CRM) and Population Viability Analysis (PVA) for birds;
  • Acoustic impact assessment, Population Consequences of Disturbance (iPCoD) and Mitigation Plans for marine mammals;

• Ornithology;
  • Terrestrial, intertidal & boat-based surveys;
  • Breeding colony counts;
  • Mitigation & compensation plans;

• Marine mammals;
  • Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM);
  • Marine Mammal Mitigation Plans (MMMPs);

• Expert advice & peer review;
  • Engagement with regulators;
  • Third party review of other consultancy EIA/HRA deliverables ;

• Statistical analysis & data science;
  • Software and tool development;
  • Power analysis for survey design
  • Density Surface Modelling (DSM) using GAM, MRSea, inlabru, etc.
  • Pre and post-consent data comparisons, including significance testing;
  • Data dashboards
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
  • Offshore wind impact modelling (SeabORD, sCRM, PVA)

• Research & Development;
  • Sensor development & novel platforms;
  • MSc & PhD student projects & supervision;
  • Partnership-working and collaborations

Please feel free to get in touch to discuss your consultancy requirements. We are happy to talk through project requirements over the phone, Teams or e-mail.