Meet the River team
With the health of rivers and our precious water environments featuring so much in the news currently, at Groundwork South we are delighted to be contributing to improvements for local communities and wildlife through the work of our new Rivers Team.
Based at our Head Office in Denham Country Park and East Hampshire, our Rivers Team not only host river catchment partnerships, bringing together organisations including water companies, local authorities, businesses and local groups in:
- the River Colne Catchment Action Network (ColneCAN www.colnecan.org.uk) and
- East Hampshire (www.easthampshirecatchments.org.uk),
our rivers specialists also gather evidence of river quality, develop and deliver river restoration projects and citizen science activities alongside of Green Doctor and conservation colleagues.
If you have a river near you that local groups would like to improve, or ideas for water-focused citizen science to monitor and investigate pollution issues, please feel welcome to get in touch via riversteam@groundwork.org.uk
Meet the team
Dr Lucy Shuker, Rivers Programme and Catchment Partnership Manager (ColneCAN)
The Rivers Team is led and supported by Lucy who joined us last year as River Programme and Catchment Partnership Manager bringing a wide variety of experience and expertise gained from previous academic, consultancy, regulatory and NGO roles delivering hydro-morphology, catchment partnerships and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
She continues to provide professional training on BNG for watercourses with CIEEM and is keen to develop river science learning and evidence building both within the team and volunteer citizen scientist communities.
Since last summer she has been delighted to build up the Rivers Team and is looking forward to working with colleagues to deliver integrated conservation and improvement outcomes for rivers and all water-dependent habitats across the Colne Valley and wider catchment.
Karen Fisher, Rivers Technical Specialist
Karen joined Groundwork South as the River Technical Specialist last October with over 35 years of experience working with rivers and flooding issues.
Karen’s previous experience has included:
- most recently Flood Manager at Buckinghamshire Council and prior to that at Slough Borough Council;
- running consultancy business giving advice on River Restoration projects and flood resilience;
- board member and chair of River Restoration Centre;
- expert advisor to Project Groundwater;
- working in research and hydraulic modelling for HR Wallingford and University of Birmingham;
- teaching at Open University,
Karen is thrilled to be working at Groundwork South to complement the skills already in the Rivers Team and continue to deliver river projects which enhance biodiversity and the environment and benefit local communities.
Matt Mountain, Senior Project Manager – Rivers
Our Senior River Projects Manager Matt brings a wealth of skills from his background in management consultancy in automotive and horticulture / agriculture, and managing arts and heritage services and assets in local government.
He has been at Groundwork for 2 years as Senior Project Manager working on river projects and rapidly adding knowledge of river science and restoration techniques to his broad range of knowledge.
Matt is currently leading on work to advance innovative and practical management of Invasive Non Native Species (INNS) across the Colne catchment with a particular focus on Floating Pennywort, Himalayan Balsam and American Skunk Cabbage in the Colne Valley Regional Park and surrounding areas.
Matt Chapman, Rivers Project Officer
Matt Chapman is the newest addition to the Rivers Team, having joined Groundwork South in November as a Rivers Project Officer.
Matt’s academic and professional background is in aquatic ecology and conservation biology. His Masters on fish ecology and previous experience with Yorkshire Wildlife Trust bring valuable knowledge and specialist skills to the Rivers Team
Matt will be supporting the work of the more experienced team members as he builds up his own breadth of knowledge and experience around the Colne catchment.