About Us
ATEC NI
Environmental Consultancy
ATEC was established in 1996 by Dr Jane Preston BSc (Hons), PhD, MRSB CBiol, MCIEEM CEnv.
Jane began her career as a post-doctoral researcher at Queens University Belfast where she was appointed as the Senior Ecologist with Quercus – an ecological research partnership between the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and the Queen’s University Belfast from 2003 – 2011.
During her time at Queen’s, Jane was the principal investigator on numerous large scale ecological surveys including surveys of the Irish hare, smooth newt, marsh fritillary butterfly and many protected plant species.
Jane was responsible for securing European funding for the internationally acclaimed project to rescue the globally endangered NI freshwater pearl mussel from extinction.
Jane has particular expertise in the ecology and conservation of otter populations and was responsible for conducting two major, province-wide surveys for otters in 2001/2002 and 2010/2011 for NIEA.
Jane also has considerable expertise in badger ecology and mitigation design and has been extensively involved in designing mitigation to minimise disturbance to badger setts during the construction of roads, railway and housing developments.
Jane also carries out surveys for other protected species such as bats, smooth newts, red squirrels, pine marten and freshwater pearl mussels.
Large Scale Ecological Surveys
ATEC has been the principal investigator on numerous large scale ecological surveys including surveys of the Irish hare, freshwater pearl mussel and European otter.
Otter Populations
ATEC has particular expertise in the ecology and conservation of otter populations and was responsible for conducting two major, province-wide surveys for otters in 2001/2002 and 2010/2011 for NIEA.
Badger Ecology
ATEC also has considerable expertise in badger ecology and mitigation design and has held licences to perform sett closures and badger translocations over the past 25 years.
Compliance with Guidelines
Jane is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) and Chartered Biologist (CBiol) and a full member of both the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) and the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).
Employers and clients recognise the CEnv as the mark of quality within the environmental surveying profession.
