National Marine Week: women in science

Join some of our leading heroines – Leanne, Maud, Sherece and Marie – as they chat all things marine.

 

Women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues and, while they represent 33.3% of all researchers, only 12% of members of national science academies are women.

We are part of an international movement to elevate the female voices working to conserve our marine environment. At the Kent Wildlife Trust Consultancy (KWTCS), we have some amazing women leading the charge to protect our abundant UK seas!

In this blog, we hear from four leading ladies in early to mid-career science roles, and they reveal how their careers have developed, and why mentorship, inspiring role models and inclusiveness have been key to their success.

Leanne Riddoch: Coast Explorer Intern - Renewables
Marie Dipple: Ecologist for Kent Wildlife Trust Consultancy Services
Sherece Thompson: Marine Conservation Officer for Kent Wildlife Trust
Maud Phillippot: Coast Explorer Intern - Education

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, half of its potential. Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful societies, with full human potential and sustainable development.

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Yellow hammer with lunch
©️ Val Butcher

April on Hothfield Heathlands - Highland cows and nesting birds

Blog

We are into full nesting season including the birds who nest on the ground or very low down in scrub, which is over half of Britain’s breeding species including the stonechat, robin, blackbird, skylark, yellow hammer, tree pipit and chiff chaff, not to…

earth worm
Lauren Heather

Grazing animal dung & its role in the ecosystem

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One of the many benefits of using grazing livestock in conservation management is that they produce dung. Their dung acts in various ways to enhance the landscape and provides benefits for a range of organisms that would otherwise be excluded in a…

Female Brown Banded Carder Bee
©️ Clare Marshall

Buzzing with purpose: Volunteering for bumblebees at Queendown Warren

Blog

I have been a BeeWalk volunteer with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) since 2024. I have also been a Kent Wildlife Trust volunteer joining the Pine Marten project at Bedgebury in 2025. I live near Queendown Warren and the South East Area Manager…