Speaker: Richard Caldow

Everyone loves a puffin, but this charismatic species is “vulnerable to extinction” according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Richard Caldow will talk about the reasons for the decline of the UK puffin population by 25%, and its even more dramatic decline in Dorset. Only 3 pairs are left in Purbeck and perhaps one pair on Portland – the only puffins breeding on the English coast between the Isles of Scilly and Yorkshire. Richard Caldow has lived and worked in Dorset for nearly 40 years. The first half of that time he worked as a research scientist with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, developing computer simulation models to predict the effects of human activities and environmental change on populations of wading birds and waterfowl. After that, until his retirement in 2025, Richard worked for Natural England as a marine ornithologist, advising Government and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning (NSIP) inspectors on the predicted impacts of offshore renewable energy developments on seabirds, and helping in the classification of a suite of marine protected areas for seabirds at sea all around the English coast.