Job Profile: Red Squirrel Officer

a smiling person in a hat standing in woodland

Name: Melissa Wharram

Employer: Lancashire Wildlife Trust

Location: Red squirrel stronghold in Merseyside and West Lancashire

a red squirrel climbing up a branch in an enclosure — (Melissa Wharram)

Job Responsibilities:

My job responsibilities are varied from promoting red squirrel conservation, liaising and supporting land owners, local authorities, other organisations, general public and volunteers, in increasing their red squirrel conservation efforts. Helping to deal with any squirrel pox outbreaks in the population. I also coordinate the bi-annual monitoring, which includes visual transects, hair tubes and trail camera.

I also work with a dedicated team of volunteers to coordinate grey squirrel control throughout the stronghold, as well as ensuring any contractors, volunteers and staff are trained to high standards and comply with health and safety.

a red squirrel looking at the camera holding on o a conifer branch — (Melissa Wharram)

Maintaining the red squirrel project social media and working with the marketing and comms department to help publicise the project, which involves filming with tv shows, providing interviews for podcasts or outreach with universities to help inspire and train the next generation of conservationists.

I also help look after abandoned red squirrels juveniles; they are looked after at home until till they are approximately 8 weeks old when they are moved to a soft release pen for a couple of weeks to get used to being independent before releasing.

a red squirrel climbing on netting in an enclosure — (Melissa Wharram)

Depending on the time of year my job role varies, during spring and autumn I organise the bi-annual monitoring, working with landowners to get access for volunteers, and doing visual transects myself. Throughout the year I work with the public to remove grey squirrels from the red squirrel stronghold and work with landowners to increase the red squirrel conservation they are doing. During the summer I look after abandoned red squirrels, if any have been found that year.

My time is spent both indoors and outdoors. During summer and winter I am often outside

Qualifications needed:

I have a MSc in Wildlife Conservation, but experience is also important. I had a traineeship with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and gained field work experience as a research assistant at the Kalahari Meerkat project in South Africa.

Additional training: DBS, Grey Control, Firearms training, GIS

Skills needed: Being able to communicate and work with a wide range of people, public speaking, social media knowledge and good time management.

Advice to anyone looking at similar roles:

Get experience where you can. However, apply for jobs even if you don’t meet all the requirements, there is a large amount of skills that can only be learnt on the job.

If you have any queries about this role or would like to ask a question of the job holder please contact them by email.

All images are of Scruff who was found abandoned by a LWT volunteer, she was taken to a local vet where she was treated for an eye infection. The squirrel team looked after her until she was confidently climbing and stripping pine cones, when she was then released into the soft release pen in Formby.