Meet the team
John Shaw
Managing Director
I have led Chiltern Rangers since we spun out from Wycombe District Council in Sept 2013 – how time flies when you’re having fun!! Setting up a new social enterprise has been something of a learning curve, which in reality more closely resembles the north face of the Eiger than a curve especially in those early years.
The learning never stops but hopefully is more Marlow Hill than North Face… I really enjoy the time I spend working in our woodlands and nature reserves, improving them for wildlife but crucially doing that conservation work with people from all walks of life, from all parts of our community. That much has never changed.
Today for example, we spent a fantastic autumn morning at one of our bigger, long term projects at Deangarden Wood in High Wycombe, an ancient semi-natural broad-leafed woodland in need of some TLC. It’s a Carington estate site and we are helping restore it as part of a brownfield redevelopment agreement. We are starting with opening up the paths and creating small glades and scalloped edges. Sessions like these and others we run, give me such a buzz, working with the Green Thursday volunteers having fun outdoors in nature and giving back – it’s just so good for our health & well-being.
As MD, much of my time is putting the three Ps (people, places and pounds) in place which make a project, like the one above, come to life. Once we line those up, we can set about making the people and the places better – that is the true power of social enterprise. We are about to launch our next 5 year plan which includes our single biggest challenge to date, a relocation to a new, purpose built and environmentally-friendly community hub serving and supporting the wider community and environment. Beyond that there are conservation projects with young people, the military and more in the pipeline.
It’s a really exciting time and will unlock our future potential at the heart of the community. It’s really important to me that as an organisation, we are as inclusive as possible and engage people of all ages and abilities. We give lots of volunteering and work experience opportunities to young people and people who may struggle in the mainstream ‘system’ for a number of reasons. Inclusivity has always been important to me, however this is driven even more so by my gorgeous daughter Holly (9) who has Angelman’s Syndrome – a rare neurological genetic disorder, learn more at www.angelmanuk.org
Away from the office, I enjoy spending time with my wife Louise and Holly – who happily loves being outdoors – nature/nurture? We often can be seen scooting around Burnham Beeches. Apart from lattes and gallons of tea to keep me going, I enjoy real ale particularly the legendary IPA from our local brewery Rebellion in Marlow and red wine from, well, anywhere really! In sport, I love/endure watching Wycombe Wanderers at football, Beaconsfield RFC at rugby and playing cricket for Penn & Tylers Green.
Thanks for checking out our website keep up to date on our projects and ramblings on Twitter & Facebook, I look forward to meeting you at one of our sites very soon.
Tony Speight
Operations and Financial Director
I have always enjoyed the outdoors and spent a lot of my childhood cycling through the countryside. Admittedly it was partly through necessity. When you are too young to drive, buses arrive only once or twice a week and the nearest shop is nearly four miles away it does become the only reasonable way to travel. Luckily it was South Lincolnshire, an extremely flat part of the country (although it can be very windy).
There may well have been fields at the front of my house and fields to the rear of my house and generally a landscape that is almost devoid of trees and hedges but I did get to see on a regular basis Starling murmurations, hares in the fields, Tawney Owls, Little Owls, Stoats, Weasels and Barn Owls as well as a wide range of farmland birds. Something that I never really appreciated until I moved away so I want to make sure that people do appreciate the wildlife on their doorstep. You don’t know how long it will be there for and without help a lot of it will be lost.
After leaving the flat lands, getting a degree in Zoology and doing some travelling around Europe I eventually moved to High Wycombe and volunteered to gain some practical experience in conservation management and an NVQ in Environmental Conservation. Since then I have always worked in conservation with an emphasis on community engagement.
I have been part of Chiltern Rangers CIC since its inception, helping to make sure that the business is a success. I have quite a mixed role within the organisation generally trying to make sure that the business is on an even keel and we are delivering everything that we’ve promised. That means I can be doing a day of practical work, followed by a day of chasing up invoices and planning, followed by a day of discussing business strategy and how we can ensure we’re a viable business for many years to come. It has been hard work but worth it and plan to be here for many years to come as we continue to improve The Chilterns and surrounding areas for the people and wildlife that live here.
I still enjoy the outdoors and luckily my work gives me the opportunity to get out more than most people but I do find myself sitting in front of a desk more than I would like. The cycling stopped for a long time but I am now back in the saddle cycling to work when the weather isn’t too bad and go on the occasional weekend ride through the Chilterns where the hills make the rides a bit more challenging!
Paul Stack
Community Projects Manager
I have had a varied and interesting career that has now led me into working for Chiltern Rangers. I worked in the commercial side of the Biotech industry before training to be a primary school teacher. I spent sixteen years teaching in schools, the last six years as a headteacher. I have always loved the outdoors, my interest in conservation grew over the last few years where I found myself spending more and more time working at my ranger aunt’s croft in Inverness during the holidays. I Ieft teaching at the end of 2014 and spent a year gaining lots of new experience. I worked with our friends at BBOWT as a conservation trainee where I learnt so much. On a lighter note we built up our fitness from time to time running around trying to round up their very jumpy Hebridean sheep. To continue the working with animals theme I spent a few months milking cows on the evening shift.
As an all-rounder, I love my role at Chiltern Rangers and that we have the focus of both communities and conservation. I work with teachers and pupils helping them to set up and run their Forest Ranger Schools, enjoy using my new found skills in practical conservation work with lots of lovely volunteers, putting together project funding bids and working with communities so that they can make the most of and look after our beautiful nature reserves and river.
One of my favourite projects so far was working with the amazing team of young people and staff at Harlow House CAMHS day hospital. We transformed a disused garden courtyard in to a vibrant place for patients and staff to relax in. The project seemed to encapsulate everything that motivates me: working with lovely people in need of encouragement, designing and then building something special together, creating a beautiful habitat for plants, animals and people, plus I get to play with power tools!
For those of you who might be confused by the surname, I was Paul New but changed to my wife Amanda’s name Stack when we married a little while ago. Away from Chiltern Rangers, I enjoy spending time with Amanda and step children, cooking for family and friends, a nice pint of real ale, a woodwork project, playing tennis and golf (I like to say to myself that the banter is more important than winning!) I am about a year and a half away from being a black belt in Taekwondo – if my memory for the increasingly complex patterns holds up and I survive the increasingly fast and furious sparring!
Steph Rodgers
Senior Ranger
Like a lot of people, it took me a while to work out what I wanted to do in life (I haven’t got all areas covered yet either). I have been a successful imposter along the way and my route to becoming a Ranger is fairly convoluted with most of what I was doing beforehand being totally disparate to where I am today! There are thousands of clichés I could insert here but I’m definitely a believer in staying patient, trusting the journey and, however hard it seems, never giving up.
I worked as a Lifeguard whilst I collected a few A-levels; had a fun-fuelled few years at Sussex Uni studying English and Media; graduated and spent a couple of years working for a local Solicitors pretending that I was blissfully happy being shackled to a desk from 9 to 5…
Next step was my PGCE at Reading Uni. Teaching is brilliant but exhausting and after teaching English in a secondary school for 5 years I was more than ready for a new challenge (and a long nap). One of the kids’ favourite sayings was ‘YOLO’ and as much as it annoyed me as an excuse for the slightest misdemeanour; they were right… You Only Live Once. So I took a massive (and frightening) leap of faith and left my job and started a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Conservation and Wildlife Management at Sparsholt College, Hampshire.
As part of the study programme at Sparsholt, I needed to arrange a Work Placement. You know the Universe is giving you opportunities when things just seem to fall into place. There I was, walking my dog through Penn Woods (one of my favourite local places), wondering if I was doing the right thing; worrying I’d made a terrible mistake (I wasn’t always very good at trusting the process), when I happened across a poster nailed to the gatepost…. it was a Chiltern Rangers poster advertising a volunteer session. I took down the number and later that day phoned John. Work Placement organised, I then started volunteering on my day off from college. Without a doubt, volunteering is one of the best ways of getting into conservation careers – I learnt so much extra from being out with the team – it was a great way to consolidate my studies and get experience in the practical delivery of habitat management.
I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world in that I truly love coming to work each day and I look forward to being outside in our beautiful local countryside. It is great working with so many different people: I like the people element alongside making our local environment better for wildlife.
Outside of work, I love walking and exploring with my dog Forest; keeping tropical fish and swimming (not with the tropical fish – the tank is too small). I recently swam the distance between Dover and Calais – 22 miles! All done in the pool – none of that dodging container ships business.
Jack Derrick
Ranger
Ever since I was a child I’ve always loved the outdoors, whether that be playing football with my mates or going for a walk through my local woodland. Back then I never considered to be where I am today, so how did I get here?
My journey started back in 2019, I was unhappy in my job at the time and wanted a change of career path after many years of not knowing what I wanted to do. However after many conversations with family I realised my true passion is with wildlife and wanting to do my part in giving it a fighting chance of survival.
Luckily for me everyone around me at the time was really supportive and helped guide me through the next steps to get to where I wanted to be. I knew I needed some sort of higher education and knowledge so I started volunteering at a wildlife rescue centre, unfortunately COVID struck. I thought to myself “What do I do next?”, to which I thought of an idea of going to do a University course to gain that extra knowledge. During the course I would learn all about a variety of different habitats, how to manage those areas and about the native species. Once completed I achieved a Science Foundation degree in Wildlife and Conservation.
In the final year of the course, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to go to South Africa where I would gain a certificate in “An Introduction to African Wildlife Management” and “Track and Sign Interpretation”. This is where I discovered a passion I would have never discovered in the UK. Tracking wild animals from small rodents and birds to big game animals gave me the skills and knowledge that enabled me to gain a better understanding of just how nature works and interacts with one another. Tracking isn’t just looking at footprints left on the floor, you can see other signs like scat, tree markings, territory markings and many insect signs in various different places. I won’t talk about tracking too much because this “short” profile could get very long and to some could be a bit much.
Finally, I came to Chiltern Rangers to enhance my knowledge and understanding of chalk grassland and chalk streams, as well as getting hands-on experience with a variety of tools and using different techniques to manage semi-natural environments.
Paul Wilson
Ranger
After a pretty long career in aircraft finance and leasing, it was time for a change.
In 2021 I, together with other neighbours, established a community biodiversity group with the objective of improving biodiversity on a local field previously used for year-round cattle grazing. With the help of the Chiltern Rangers, we wrote a management plan and got community buy-in for the project; which is now up and running.
Payback came in the form of me volunteering for Chiltern Rangers on a regular basis which morphed into working for them 2 days a week and now as an employee working 3.5 days a week. As such I don’t have the depth of experience of my esteemed colleagues but try to make up for that with a willingness to learn, together with enthusiasm! Since I started working for Chiltern Rangers, I can confirm the enormous mental and physical health benefits of being outside experiencing nature and spending time with a diverse range of community groups and volunteers.
Aside from work and the local biodiversity group, I am trying to create a wildflower area in the garden at home (tough after many years of over-zealous lawn maintenance) and love to spend time inspecting our wildlife pond (a COVID project).
My one other singular passion is baking sourdough bread – it’s a bit of a post-COVID cliché I know, but I like to think I was an early adopter, with my starter being over 10 years old!
Morvern Wakefield
Ranger
I have always enjoyed being outdoors and I have spent a lot of my time out in the Scottish countryside on horseback and on foot just enjoying the scenery. I have had a mixed career before joining Chiltern Rangers, I had worked in the equine industry for around 8 years which I thoroughly enjoyed and value the experience greatly. However, I felt that something was missing, therefore I embarked on getting a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies which has fuelled my passion for conservation. I am still completing my degree, but I am almost across that finish line.
I left the equine industry to pursue a career in conservation, which so far has been incredibly rewarding. I had the fantastic opportunity of being a RSPB fundraiser, inspiring people to reconnect with nature and the role in turn helped improve my knowledge of habitats, species and conservation projects. The job did not come without its challenges, however it is another experience that I will not forget as it helped lead me to my opportunity at Chiltern Rangers.
Fundraising also inspired me to become a volunteer at Farnham Heath where I truly began to enjoy the physical conservation work and the community power of wonderful volunteers who donate their time to help nature.
I spent a year or so volunteering on days off to gain experience for that dream conservation job, unfortunately it was proving to not quite be enough; so I started out on a conservation internship to really improve my skills and knowledge.
All of the hard work paid off because here I am as a Ranger with Chiltern Rangers. I am beyond excited to get to know everyone and learn more about the habitats that we manage. The community element of Chiltern Rangers truly inspires me and I can’t wait to help make a difference for nature.
In my spare time, I enjoy going on long walks and exploring new places. I am also big into my fitness and enjoy going to the gym and also going for the odd run or cycle.
Simon Hanly
Assistant Ranger
After almost 20 years working in marketing for large multinational companies, I decided to start a new career. I have always loved being outdoors and active, so this was going to be a key part in any new career I embarked on.
I heard about Chiltern Rangers after my sister volunteered with them, and I decided to give it a try! After the first session I knew this would be a wonderful way for me to get experience in a new industry, and soon I was volunteering two or three times a week. Over the next eight months I gained loads of experience learning how to maintain and improve habitats during different seasons. I was also surprised how important the community element is to the Chiltern Rangers, and it has been great bonding with the other regular volunteers.
I recently joined the team as an Assistant Ranger, and I have loved getting stuck in! I have loads to learn, but the team have been incredibly supportive. The next few years are going to be a fun learning process with lots of plant, animal, and tree species to learn.
In my spare time I love going for runs and going to the gym. I have always loved shooting and like to clay pigeon shoot with friends when I can. More recently I have developed a love for stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking (fair weather only!), so this is very much a summer pursuit.
Ingrid Barnes
Assistant Ranger
Like many of my Chiltern Ranger colleagues, I am also a career-changer. I worked for the UK Civil Service in Westminster for over 20 years, but although the people were great and the work was interesting, I found myself needing a greater sense of impact from my work.
I was also a keen hiker who loved being in the great outdoors and was becoming increasingly concerned about the biodiversity and climate crises. In the scorching heatwave of summer 2022, I was training for a mountaineering trip in the Alps and kept hearing about the poor state of the mountains there. I increasingly felt uneasy about flying over to Switzerland and contributing to the pressure being put on the mountains. As fate would have it, I fell ill a few days before the trip and was forced to cancel. It was at that point I decided that I wanted to work outdoors in a role where I would be helping to restore and recover nature. So, I started volunteering with London Wildlife Trust, left the Civil Service and applied for a 1-year trainee position with the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, where I learned about practical habitat management.
When the Chiltern Rangers role was advertised, I thought it would be the perfect next step for me. I was drawn to the variety of projects and sites and the opportunity to help others engage with nature in a protected landscape. I am really enjoying meeting and working with the Chiltern Rangers volunteers – they have all been so friendly and welcoming!
Shelley Presencer
Assistant Ranger
I started volunteering at Chiltern Rangers in the summer of 2025 and was given the opportunity to work in school settings. I realised that this was a perfect next step for me to combine my passions for education and conservation. I had recently left a 30 year career as a primary school teacher, where over the last few years I had spent time developing an outdoor school curriculum with forest school activities. The children gained so much from being outside.
I love being outdoors myself and am never happier than when I’m walking my two cocker spaniels across the chalk grasslands alongside the River Thames. I also love open water swimming in both the sea and lakes, and regularly walk with a friend challenging ourselves to complete the national trails in the UK.
Being at Chiltern Rangers for a few weeks has been an incredibly fulfilling experience. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working alongside so many dedicated and passionate volunteers, all while engaging with amazing young people from various schools.
Elspeth Scott
Assistant Ranger
Like many of the team at Chiltern Rangers, I have come to my role as Assistant Ranger as a career changer after just over 15 years as a primary school teacher. I have long been fascinated by the natural world, especially plants, and in 2025 was fortunate to have the opportunity to explore how that fascination could become part of my career.
I volunteered with Chiltern Rangers during the summer before heading to a beautiful spot in South Devon for a 12-week residential nature recovery traineeship. These experiences opened my eyes to many aspects of working with nature and the importance of community within this. I still have a huge amount to learn, but I’m excited to be working alongside the knowledgeable and experienced team and volunteers at Chiltern Rangers.
John Taylor
Community Ranger
Growing up in the countryside (briefly in the Cambridgeshire Fens then the slightly more hilly area of the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border) I’ve always had a love for nature and the outdoors, especially the links between people and place and the arts and the environment. Having the Malvern Hills on one side of the village and the small rchards, fields and lanes of east Herefordshire on the other clearly made an impression – another favourite part of the world that I’m very lucky to spend time in is rural Jutland.
After finishing my MPhil I lived and worked in Staffordshire and Cheshire – a good few years on my narrowboat (now no longer with me). I then moved to Wycombe – it was only supposed to be for a couple of years but have now been here for over twenty.
After a long spell working in bookselling I took the life-changing decision to abruptly leave my job and stepped off the cliff – luckily there were good people at the bottom to catch me!
I started with Chiltern Rangers as a volunteer, firstly with the Green Thursday group and then on a more full-time basis before joining the team as a Trainee Ranger. I qualified as a Forest School Leader and now spend a lot of my time working with community groups and schools and I also work as a Community Ranger in partnership with Marsh & Micklefield Big Local. Working with a diverse range of people is a hugely rewarding experience and Forest School is a highlight of the week (although the children find it hard to imagine a primary school where there were only 30 people, including teachers…)
Outside of work I enjoy walking, art and photography and firmly believe that in life there cannot be too much music, too much cider or too many books…
Tyler Connolly
Trainee Ranger
I knew of Chiltern Rangers because I work with Khepera CIC and Mama Bee.
I had been meaning to get involved with volunteering for Chiltern Rangers for YEARS but the universe intervened and, in the summer of 2024, I found myself on a community session involving all 3 companies!
I initially joined Chiltern Rangers as a volunteer and then embarked on a 16 week internship as part of our Stepping Stones to Employability project supported by the Rothschild Foundation.
I then started my traineeship in September 2025 and love every moment!
Diana Crawcour
Business Manager
I joined Chiltern Rangers in December 2021 and the role encompasses everything I am passionate about – supporting an organisation that is really quite fantastic and does wonderful conservation work in our local area. In my role, I get involved in all aspects of the business from marketing to finance, supporting our volunteers and also the team of rangers. And what a fabulous team they are – so much enthusiasm for everything they do. And we drink a lot of tea which is a massive plus point.
I graduated from Buckinghamshire New University (a long time ago…) with a degree in Business & Leisure Management and spent the first part of my career working in personal development and training. This gave me a really interesting insight into the different types of people that make up our world. After having my two children, I changed roles and worked in children’s services for our local youth offending team and also Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service – supporting teachers providing an educational service for deaf and blind children.
Outside of work, I am happiest outdoors and love walking – I’m currently working my way along the Thames Path and would love to start the South West Coastal Path/Coast to Coast/Hadrian’s Wall when time ever allows! Ben Nevis is also on the list. I also love Pilates, swimming, historical novels and will drag the family to various historical properties whenever they don’t complain too much!
Jo Howard
Business Support Administrator
I’ve always loved being outdoors, hiking and camping, and have a long-term interest in nature. My first conservation experience was as a volunteer with BTCV as a teenager, where I learned to restore dry stone walls in the Peak District. I’m pretty sure I learned to drive a dumper truck before I could drive a car, but suspect that wouldn’t be allowed now!
Until a few years ago, I hadn’t considered that my interest in nature and conservation could translate into a career. My working life has been pretty varied, including 10 years as an NHS physiotherapist and another 10 with my own therapy practice. Along the way, I’ve woven in a number of other paid and volunteer roles, often linked with local community groups.
Covid closed the doors of my therapy practice rather abruptly in 2020, but led me to re-think where I wanted to direct my energy and skills. Drawing on my love of nature, and growing concerns about ecological and environmental degradation, I embarked on an MA in Theology, Ecology and Ethics. I also started volunteering with Chiltern Rangers, which led to an extended summer volunteer experience, a traineeship year, and on from there to a job as a Ranger.
I loved my role as a Ranger, gaining many new skills and helping develop lots of beautiful sites for nature. However, after 3 years on the job, it was time to give my body a bit of a break with a switch of roles. I’m delighted that I can continue as part of this wonderful team of staff and volunteers as Business Support Administrator.
Liz Apedaile
Wildflower Nursery Manager
Liz is our wonderful Community Wildflower Nursery manager and she can be found there on Monday mornings finger deep in compost. But only the best SylvaGrow Peat-Free Compost!!
After 3 years at university in Aberystwyth studying Agricultural Botany’ Liz became a grassland management PHD research student at Liverpool University in the Botany department and worked at the Welsh Plant Breeding Station just outside Aberystwyth. Then she moved to the world of garden design for Graham Bell Landscapes, based at Farnham Common Nurseries. Here Liz learned not just garden design but also how to specify materials, prepare quotations and run landscaping projects. She had access to a nursery that grew most of its own plants and was used by local contractors.
At Farnham Common Nurseries Liz worked on their trade sales for three years and was a director of Buckinghamshire Design and Landscaping. In 2001, together with a contractor, she designed and built a show garden at Hampton Court Flower Show.
More recently Liz has been a Horticulture Lecturer for BCA working with apprentice students, carries out End Point Assessments for Horticulture Apprentices for Lantra and also works as a freelance designer.
Kath Daly
Non-Executive Director
I have followed Chiltern Ranger’s development with interest and appreciation over many years, and am delighted to now support their work as a Non-Executive Director.
I have spent most of my career in the environment sector, working with land managers, farmers, local organisations and communities on nature recovery, and connecting people and places. As Land and Nature lead for the Chilterns National Landscape (2005 – 2022) I worked with many organisations, including Chiltern Rangers, to develop landscape-scale initiatives and collaborations across the Chilterns.
Since establishing my freelance practice in 2023 I have worked with a wide range of organisations across the country on project development, evaluation and research. Earlier in my career, I trained as a social worker and worked in community mental health in the South Wales Valleys, and with young people in the care system. Over the course of my career, I have become increasingly convinced that the wellbeing of communities and ecosystems are deeply interconnected, and that lasting change starts with relationships and with understanding not just what we need to do but why we do it.
This is an approach that Chiltern Rangers embodies brilliantly, and I look forward to bringing my experience and learning to support them in the next stage of their evolution.
Nicola Thomas
Non-Executive Director
I joined the Board of Chiltern Rangers in July 2025, having worked closely with the organisation and its dedicated team for nearly a decade.
My career spans environmental policy and leadership, with previous roles at PwC in sustainability consultancy, and as a Director at the National Audit Office, reporting to Parliament on the value for money of the Government’s environmental programmes. My experience also includes significant secondments to HM Treasury (Environmental Taxes), Oxfam (international poverty campaign), and the London 2012 Olympics, where I supported the development of the sustainability strategy.
Earlier in my career, I trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Andersen, specialising in corporate tax. So, my background has grounded me in strategic, cross-sector collaboration.
I started working locally when my children began at primary school, with my role as Partnership Manager for the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Natural Environment Partnership (the NEP). The Partnership brings together many organisations, sectors and people to drive nature recovery and all the benefits that brings to people and communities as well as to wildlife and the wider environment. The role itself has changed and evolved over time, and I really enjoy supporting the partners in sharing knowledge, good practice and uniting them to find collaborative solutions to local environmental issues, setting strategy, delivering it and capitalising on opportunities.
I’ll be drawing on my broad experience to contribute strategic insight to support Chiltern Rangers and its continued and inspiring work to enhance the local environment, connect people with nature and work alongside the communities we live in and rely on.
Sarah Valentine
Non-Executive Director
Sarah Valentine has been on the board as a NED since January 2019.
She joined to support our work engaging with young people and help us deliver more into that sector as she shares our belief of getting young people hands on experience as a way to change attitudes and behaviours and foster understanding.
Sarah was previously the Principal at Bucks UTC and we have worked with their students on several occasions at several sites and hope to do more of that in the coming months.
Sustainability is key in their BTEC construction course and our sessions show why this is so important.
Sarah is also helping us as a board member with her experience at a senior level running a business. Like all NEDs, part of her role is to advocate and promote Chiltern Rangers such as attending business networking events and so on. This summer she has also helped by getting hands-on at our Almshouses wildlife gardening project planting wildflowers and removing errant wildflowers from the path!
Her passion and reason for getting involved at Chiltern Rangers centres around her love of nature – she is currently enjoying reading ‘Gods of the Morning’ by John Lister-Kaye