The Regional Network Committee supports the management and development of the Regional Network.
It approves the appointment of Regional Network members and liaises with the Surveys and Engagement Teams to ensure that the network is well supported. The Chair of the RNC sits on the Board and is supported on the committee by an additional member of the Board and up to eight Regional Network members, representing a variety of roles and regions.
The committee meets quarterly including one in-person meeting at BTO HQ in Thetford.
Members of the RNC
Stephen Metcalfe - RNC Chair
Stephen is the Regional Representative for the Lothians and RO for the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Heronries Census. He has been a birdwatcher since childhood, his early interest being boosted by a couple of residential YOC courses. In his late teens/student years he volunteered as an assistant at both Havergate Island and Minsmere reserves.
Although family and work (as a solicitor) responsibilities restricted birding opportunities for many years, since retirement he has taken on 2 Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) squares and a coastal Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) section, before becoming RR in late 2019.
He is also a member of the RSPB and the SOC, attending the Lothian Discussion Group (which plans and carries out many local surveys) of the latter. In 2024 he became a trustee of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, taking on the role of supporting the Trust's network of volunteers. Apart from birding, he is a keen amateur musician, cyclist and walker.
Helen Crabtree
Helen has been the BTO Regional Representative for Sussex since 2008 and the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) regional organiser in Sussex since 2005. She is also the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) local organiser for Sussex inland sites. She is a member of the scientific committee of the Sussex Ornithological Society and has organised many single-species bird surveys in Sussex on their behalf as well as organising and taking part in all BTO surveys.
She also runs a farmland bird monitoring scheme within the South Downs National Park and is a trustee for a local woodland nature reserve where she monitors 30 nest boxes. She lives near Brighton and spends most weekends walking long distances on the South Downs.
Anna Alam
Anna has been the BTO Regional Ambassador for Suffolk since 2023. She enjoys engaging with the public, birders and land owners across the county and promoting BTO citizen science surveys, as well as show-casing the best of ornithology in Suffolk. She is a graduate of Humanities and a post graduate from Reading University.
Anna spent 20 years working for Suffolk County Council, with young people aged 13-19 in careers education and guidance. She worked in schools and colleges across south Suffolk and extensively with young people in the community, including those not in employment, education or training. She takes an active interest in ‘BTO Youth’ and is very proud to have two BTO Youth reps in the county! After a 20 year career she re-trained in horticulture via the RHS and her passion for wildlife developed. Anna volunteered at Suffolk Wildlife Trust Trimley reserve, carrying out practical habitat work and soon took an interest in bird ringing. The Regional Representative for Suffolk, Mick Wright who was also reserves manager at Trimley, encouraged her to train in ringing and get involved with the BTO. She is now a licensed ringer, ringing passerines, raptors, waders and more!
Anna’s other interests include mothing and she is also a volunteer for ‘Snapshot Mosquito’, collecting Mosquito samples for research into the Usutu virus. She is a part-time Head Gardener on a large private garden on the Suffolk Coast.
Dr Ben Hillier
An earth scientist by background, Ben followed an international career in the energy sector before switching to his lifelong passion of birds through a research masters, including projects on birdsong and seabird migration. As a result, the emerging technology of automatic birdsong detection is a particular interest combining new and old skills.
He is now Regional Representative for London North, organiser of several BTO surveys including BBS and WeBS and an active surveyor himself. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the London Bird Report, a (trainee) ringer at Rye Meads Ringing Group and, still, a Fellow of the Geological Society.
Away from ornithology, Ben enjoys exploring the history of London, roaming the rich tapestry of the British countryside and is an avid sports enthusiast which underpins his interest in building diverse and effective teams.
John Wilson
John has been GBW Ambassador for Lothian since 2009 and has been a contributor to GBW since 1999. His garden is also included in the BTO Garden Bird Feeding Survey, and he has contributed to several one-off surveys as well as presently BBS and WINBS.
When at school, his interest in birds was sparked by a teacher who introduced RSPB local meetings, and he remembers helping to survey a coastal site in Lincolnshire for a future nature reserve. Much later, whilst in the Physics Department at Heriot-Watt University, he chaired the University’s campus conservation committee for many years, which guided the long-term management of landscape on the rural Riccarton campus. He retired as Head of Physics in 2012.
Currently he gives an online course in Solar Photovoltaic Energy, contributes to publications on technical textiles, and is a volunteer gardener at a local residential special school.
George Batho
George has been BTO Regional Representative for Hampshire since 2023 and has been actively engaged in BBS and other surveys in Hampshire for nearly 25 years. He is also a Trustee of Hampshire Ornithological Society and is active within the Wilder Fareham team, affiliated to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.
Actively interested in birds from the age of six, he retired from industry in 2021 after over 40 years service in senior roles in Human Resources. Keen not only on birds but the wider environment, he enjoys meeting with a wide range of people to further the aims of the BTO and wider wildlife concerns.
Grant Bigg
Grant has been Regional Representative for 'Yorkshire (Southwest)' since 2015 & 'Yorkshire (Southeast)' since 2018. He manages the regions' Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Heronries Census, as well as South Yorkshire's Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). Grant has had a lifelong interest in the natural world, being an environment scientist and oceanographer before he retired in 2022, but he did not start serious birdwatching until 1996, with the start of the Garden BirdWatch.
Grant has surveyed BBS squares in Suffolk, the Peak District and now Norfolk, where he moved in 2022, as well as WeBS sites in Derbyshire and Norfolk. He has been active in many of the BTO's species-specific surveys, most recently the Woodcock Survey, Winter Gull Survey and the Winter Bird Survey, and usually is regional organiser for these. Having surveyed a number of tetrads in Derbyshire for the 2007-2011 Bird Atlas, he is looking forward to the 2027-2031 Atlas.
Grant lives near Hickling Broad in NE Norfolk and enjoys walking, canoeing, and birdwatching with his two border terriers. He still keeps his environmental science academic interests going, as well as starting a new career as an historical novelist.
Sean Murphy
Sean has been the BTO Regional Representative for Berkshire, and the Regional Organiser for the BBS, WeBS and Heronries Census since 2019 (although the WeBS role has just been taken on by a new BTO RN member). In addition, Sean helps in the BTO South Essex region as he is also the RO for the WeBS and BBS surveys there. In both regions he also participates in the BBS, WeBS and other BTO surveys.
Professionally, Sean is an Applied Ecologist working in International Development in the agricultural and environmental sciences but retired from major full-time work in 2019. As he has a lifelong interest in ornithology and the ecological and behavioral sciences, this enabled him to devote much more time to these interests.
Besides his BTO roles and activities, he has organised and participated in bird surveys in farmland and woodland areas on behalf of farm estate owners. Sean is a member of the RSPB, the BOU and local bird societies in Berkshire and Essex.
Emma Thornton - BTO Board Rep
Emma is a Biology graduate from the University of Oxford who is currently working for an ecological consultancy in the southwest. During her master's she researched Manx shearwaters, spending a summer doing fieldwork on Skomer Island. The project's outcomes focused on flight heights in relation to collision risk with Offshore Wind Farms. She hopes to continue her career in the environment sector, working towards forward-thinking solutions to protect the natural world.
Back in her gap year Emma became involved with BTO as a novice birder and has since got involved with BTO surveys and has been part of BTO's Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) since its formation at the start of 2020. Emma is passionate about creating opportunities for young people to connect with nature and science, particularly around improving mental health. As well as her work with BTO Youth she was inspired to set up and lead her own society whilst at university - Oxford Ornithological Student Society (OXOSS).
At the start of 2023 Emma became BTO's first young trustee and has since enjoyed bringing a young person's perspective to the Board for the first time. With both her science and engagement background, she is focused on maximising BTO's impact both for birds and for people.