Mammals
From rare Red Squirrels to a thriving population of Grey Seals, the North East is home to a fascinating range of mammals. Explore the mammals of North East England with NHSN’s Mammal Specialist Group.
From Red Squirrels to badgers and Roe Deer, many NHSN members are passionate about the conservation and monitoring of mammals in the North East.
Across the region, our Mammal Specialist Group provides opportunities for people to observe, enjoy and learn about wild mammals.
Your Mammal Coordinators
Richard Bevan
Mammals Co-Coordinator
Richard works to provide opportunities for you to enjoy, observe and study mammals.
A Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University, Richard also sits on the Farne Islands Advisory Committee and is a member of British Ecological Society. He regularly publishes research into mammals, birds and marine ecosystems both in Britain and across the globe.
Jess Ward
Mammals Co-Coordinator
Jess works with Richard and Sophie to provide opportunities for local naturalists to study and enjoy mammals across the region.
Jess is an ecologist currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Newcastle University. Her interests lie in disease ecology, urban ecology and mammalian behaviour and she recently completed her PhD which focussed on understanding the drivers of sociality in mammalian carnivores.
Sophie Webster
Mammals Co-Coordinator
Sophie works with Jess and Richard to provide opportunities for local naturalists to study and enjoy mammals across the region.
Sophie is currently working with Northumberland Wildlife Trust as their Project Officer. She has worked on projects such as Catch My Drift, improving the East Chevington Nature Reserve and has headed up the Harvest Mouse project at the Trust which involves setting up a breeding programme at Northumberland Zoo.
Sophie is also the Mammal Society’s Harvest Mouse Survey Coordinator for Northumberland.
Join mammal citizen science
Your sightings can shape our understanding of mammals in the North East.
Discover mammal citizen science projects that you take part in across the region.
Useful contacts
The Mammal Society appoints recorders for each vice-county who are always delighted to receive records of both common and scarce mammals.
These are:
Northumberland and County Durham – Paul Stevens, Environmental Records Information Centre NE, paul.stevens@twmuseums.org.uk
Tees Valley – Jonathan Pounder, jonathan_pounder@hotmail.com
Beaver ecology in Britain
Take a closer look at one of many natural history talks shared on NHSN’s YouTube channel
Your mammal sightings
Share your mammal encounters by contacting us at nhsn@ncl.ac.uk