Rachel Irwin

Rachel joined the Woodrow Staff in 2019 as an Assistant Ecologist working mainly as part of the Bat Team. She left in 2020 to undertake her PhD as part of the Teagasc Walsh Scholarship Programme entitled “Increasing tree cover on dairy and drystock farms: the main barriers and perceptions that impede agroforestry uptake”. She re-joined Woodrow in 2022 on a part-time basis as an Agri-Ecologist while she completes her research. Rachel is from an agricultural background, having grown up on a farm in the north-west of Ireland where she farms alongside her grandfather and father. This nurtured her love for nature and conservation which led her to study an undergrad in Zoology with Conservation at Bangor University in Wales. She has a proven track-record in communicating and negotiating with farmers on conservation matters, both in the U.K. and Ireland, including liaising with governments, groups and communities. She is also competent in undertaking protected species surveys including bats (preliminary roost assessment, emergence/re-entry and activity surveys), otter, badger, red squirrel and herptofauna (great crested newts and reptiles). She has also experience in completing environmental monitoring and assessments in soil, air, water, waste and energy, working for a wide range of schemes and developments including windfarms, quarries, hydro-schemes, gas lines and commercial and residential developments.