Anna Aitken

Anna is a Research Assistant working on an NCF project aimed at providing evidence for setting buffer distances for woodland creation and future use of existing wooded peatland in England, and is undertaking a Masters by Research titled “Hydrological connectivity in peatlands: the impact of planted woodlands on adjacent peatlands” supervised by the University of Leeds.

Anna joined Forest Research in 2023. She studied with the Open University for a BSc in Natural Sciences (Environmental Science) and graduated with a first in 2022. Her undergraduate thesis modelling the impact of changing land use in the Scottish Borders on the habitat for Northern Brown Argus butterflies led to her undertaking an internship with Butterfly Conservation and funded by PTES, surveying rare micro-moths in remote parts of Scotland in the spring and summer of 2023, while completing a PGCert in Biological Recording at Manchester Metropolitan university.

Affiliations

School of Geography, University of Leeds

BSc

anna.aitken@forestresearch.gov.uk

Research Assistant

Physical environmental sciences

Forest Research

Northern Research Station

Roslin

Midlothian

EH25 9SY