Rachel Blount, Principal Ecologist, AtkinsRéalis

Rachel Blount is a Principal Ecologist and one of the Biodiversity Net Gain leads within AtkinsRéalis, a world-leading engineering and environmental consultancy. She is the Chair of the AtkinsRéalis Biodiversity Net Gain Network.

Alongside a specialism in Biodiversity Net Gain, Rachel also has skills and experience in general ecology and an interest in natural capital and nature-based solutions. Her experience includes Biodiversity Net Gain studies and ecological assessment for clients across industry, including transportation, water, residential development, and energy.

For Rachel, the best part of her role is working alongside clients who share the same vision of creating a better world for nature and people. She particularly values opportunities for inter-disciplinary working and collaboration and finds it particularly rewarding to work with related disciplines such as natural capital and carbon, which has allowed her to really appreciate the multitude of benefits that thriving biodiverse landscapes can provide.

In addition to her role at Atkins, Rachel is also a part-time MRes student at the University of Liverpool. She is currently undertaking research into the impact of beaver habitat modifications on bats, which has allowed her the pleasure of witnessing beavers transform their habitat and biodiversity flourish as a result.

Rachel’s passion for the natural world started with a love of wild animals. This inspired her to set up a ‘wildlife hospital’ as a child, which involved many unsuccessful attempts to nurse ailing bees and ladybirds back to health, as well as occasional successes in rescuing voles from a neighbour’s cat.

This love of nature grew and developed over the years (albeit with a brief hiatus during her early teenage years) and resulted in Rachel undertaking an Ecology degree at Bangor University, where she developed a particular interest in botany – a skill that is growing in demand with the introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain.