John has always been fascinated by wildlife and studied Zoology and Conservation at university. After graduating, he worked with the Ecological Parks Trust (now the Trust for Urban Ecology), creating and managing urban nature reserves so that children could learn about nature at first hand, working in London and then as Warden of the Sevenoaks Reserve in Kent, a string of flooded gravel pit lakes fringed by woodland and managed by a small independent charity. He developed the reserve, from the initial surveys of plants, fungi and animals, drawing up a management plan, to the nitty-gritty of digging ponds, building islands, laying out a nature trail and guiding school groups. John found this immensely rewarding but it came to an abrupt halt in 2005 when the reserve was taken over by the Kent Wildlife Trust. This was an ideal time to move on to something new. Since then John has been based in Buckinghamshire, giving talks on a range of natural history topics and leading guided walks, alongside helping as a volunteer on some of the local reserves managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and also indulges his interest in woodcarving and coracle-making. He has a particular fondness for insects, is a former Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and has for many years studied glow-worms, as well as being a keen wildlife photographer.