There are currently three permanent team members, two of who are full time.  All are marine biologists and hold professional diving qualifications.  A fourth, seasonal, member of staff has been appointed over recent years and will again be in 2011, though the future of this post currently appears to be very tenuous.

The team is occasionally supplemented by other CCW marine staff.

Phil Newman (below left) joined the team as Assistant Skomer Marine Conservation Officer when staff were first recruited to the newly designated MNR in 1991.  He became the SMNR Officer in 1998.   In his former life Phil was involved in fish farming in North Wales and Ecuador, research into the effects of TBT anti-fouling and crewing charter yachts in the Mediterranean.

Kate Lock (below centre) joined the team in 1996, at first as a seasonal assistant, from teaching at nearby Dale Fort Field Centre.  Before that Kate also had been involved in fish-farming and taught on the subject for two years during VSO in Thailand.  She retains her dedication to education and encouraging others and is the main organiser of the MNR’s volunteer projects and, having moved to part-time working in 2002, is now also Seasearch coordinator for SW Wales.

Mark Burton (below right) was also lured from Dale Fort.  He joined the MNR in 2001.  Before Dale Fort he spent a season with the Devon Wildlife Trust marine survey team, was a volunteer at New Zealand’s Leigh Marine Reserve for six months, and while at Dale Fort managed a working visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands.

The permanent team has been joined for the 2011 season by Jen Jones who has mostly worked on sponge surveys with Bernie Picton, Ulster Museum, over recent years.

Former seasonal assistants have moved on to a range of different roles.

Rob Gibbs (2006 – 2010) was is an exception to the marine biologist by training rule as he has a degree in astrophysics.  His love of underwater videography brought him to marine biology and, via Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences, to the MNR where his video skills and mathematical science training boosted the range of the team’s talents.

Lou Luddington (2001 – 2005) is now a freelance marine biologist.

Sue Burton (1995) spent a season as the Milford Haven water ranger, and has been the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation Officer since 2000.

Liz Macedo (1993 – 94) moved to Australia and joined the Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service with responsibility for whale conservation advice and monitoring for several years.

Former Skomer MNR Officer Blaise Bullimore took early retirement from CCW in 2006 and is now the Carmarthen Bay & Estuaries European Marine Site Officer.  Sue and Blaise are both now Honorary Wardens and volunteer members of the MNR dive team.

MNR team consistency and constancy

The MNR team structure has changed considerably over the life of the MNR as the fortunes of CCW and the political climate have varied.  Although there is more than enough work to keep the permanent team very busy, there is a critical minimum number of people needed to field a safe and legal working diving team.  On several occasions during the years since designation, keeping the minimum team intact, or securing resources to employ the seasonal assistant have been hard fought battles.  The strength of opinion and support from the MNR Advisory Committee at these times has been immensely valuable.

There has been increasing pressure over recent years for the MNR team to undertake various tasks outside the Reserve, especially supporting monitoring in the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation, within which, of course, Skomer MNR lies.  Although it is understandable that the skills and experience of the MNR team, and the Reserve boats and equipment, are called on in this way, the Skomer MNR Allies believe that such off-Reserve work should not compromise the ability of the MNR team to carry out all the work necessary in the Reserve.

The Skomer MNR Allies strongly endorses the Advisory Committee’s often stated view that the Reserve must remain fully staffed and that the staff’s priority should remain the MNR.

Honorary Wardens and volunteers