Dr Isabel Moore
Senior Biologist/Trust Manager
Isabel moved to Skye in 2013 with a Masters in Ecology and Environmental Biology from the University of Glasgow and a passion for freshwater ecology and macroinvertebrate communities. She began working with a previous iteration of SLRT in 2014 before starting her PhD at the University of Glasgow in 2015. She continued to carry out routine fisheries monitoring work on Skye for the Trust while simultaneously conducting research for her PhD. Part of her thesis investigated the impacts of salmon aquaculture on wild sea trout populations in sea lochs around Skye using various techniques including acoustic telemetry tracking methods.
Dr Lorna Nelson
Senior Education Coordinator/ SISI Development Officer
After completing her PhD on otter diet at Aberdeen University, Lorna moved to Gairloch in 1997. Since then, she has been involved in freshwater survey work both for Wester Ross Fisheries Trust and as an independent contractor. She has been fortunate to be involved in some interesting projects such a four-year study into the nesting failure of black-throated divers on Loch Maree and the 2013 National Pearl Mussel Survey. Having qualified as a primary teacher in 2007, her role in has become increasingly education-based and she is now the senior coordinator of SLRT’s education projects and the SISI project officer in the Lochalsh area.
Charlotte Small
Assistant Biologist
Charlotte grew up on Skye and attended High School in Portree. She has always had a love for marine and freshwater environments, which drove her to complete a Bachelor’s Degree at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, where her dissertation focused on the many uses of macroalgae in the modern world.
Trustees
Our Trustees contribute a wide range of knowledge, experience and expertise with backgrounds that include conservation, academia, project management, statutory bodies, angling clubs together with river managers, owners and tenants.
Ian Lindsay
Chair
Ian spent over 30 years with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, retiring as its Director of Advisory and Education in 2014. During this time he led GWCT’s fishery research team, including the management of a number of large, catchment scale river and fishery restoration projects. He now works a family croft on Sleat spending as much time as possible working his pointers and fishing Skye’s lochs and rivers.
Ian spent over 30 years with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, retiring as its Director of Advisory and Education in 2014. During this time he led GWCT’s fishery research team, including the management of a number of large, catchment scale river and fishery restoration projects. He now works a family croft on Sleat spending as much time as possible working his pointers and fishing Skye’s lochs and rivers.
Nigel Pearson
Vice Chair
A keen angler, Nigel has had an association with West Coast since childhood. He is a member of the River Ling group of fishermen at Nonach and for a number of years has represented the Southern Rivers Area Management group. With a background in law, finance and farming Nigel is also an ordained minister in the parishes around Papworth and Cambridgeshire.
A keen angler, Nigel has had an association with West Coast since childhood. He is a member of the River Ling group of fishermen at Nonach and for a number of years has represented the Southern Rivers Area Management group. With a background in law, finance and farming Nigel is also an ordained minister in the parishes around Papworth and Cambridgeshire.
Bob Kindness
Trustee
Bob has been an avid angler from a very early age and has continued with his passion ever since. His desire to work with salmon led him to carry out research at university related to the early development stages of salmon after which time he became involved in rearing rainbow trout and then lecturing in fish husbandry and fisheries management. Bob has been involved in fish husbandry for over 40 years working with several species of salmonids. Over the last 25 years his main focus has been on restoring the salmon and sea trout stocks in the River Carron and then maintaining the fishery through a stocking programme. Bob has been a trustee of local fisheries organisations for many years.
Bob has been an avid angler from a very early age and has continued with his passion ever since. His desire to work with salmon led him to carry out research at university related to the early development stages of salmon after which time he became involved in rearing rainbow trout and then lecturing in fish husbandry and fisheries management. Bob has been involved in fish husbandry for over 40 years working with several species of salmonids. Over the last 25 years his main focus has been on restoring the salmon and sea trout stocks in the River Carron and then maintaining the fishery through a stocking programme. Bob has been a trustee of local fisheries organisations for many years.
Ewen Macpherson
Trustee
Ewen has a dual role of overseeing the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SGRPID) team in Portree as well as factoring the Scottish Ministers’ Estate on the Island of Skye. He was raised in a crofting township on the Scorrybreac Estate, just north of Portree. Like many others of his age he left Skye following his schooling in Portree. Following an agricultural college education in Aberdeen he joined the Scottish Office Agricultural Department in Ayr as an Agricultural Officer. His career in SGRPID then took him to Caithness and Argyll before he took up his current role based in Portree in 2015. Ewen serves the crofting, rural and business communities on Skye with an aim of doing whatever he can to make them successful.
Ewen has a dual role of overseeing the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SGRPID) team in Portree as well as factoring the Scottish Ministers’ Estate on the Island of Skye. He was raised in a crofting township on the Scorrybreac Estate, just north of Portree. Like many others of his age he left Skye following his schooling in Portree. Following an agricultural college education in Aberdeen he joined the Scottish Office Agricultural Department in Ayr as an Agricultural Officer. His career in SGRPID then took him to Caithness and Argyll before he took up his current role based in Portree in 2015. Ewen serves the crofting, rural and business communities on Skye with an aim of doing whatever he can to make them successful.
Dr Melanie Smith
Trustee; Director of Research and Innovation, Inverness College, UHI
Melanie is the Director of the Rivers and Lochs Institute at the University of Highlands and Islands, Inverness College and has been a member of local fisheries organisations since 2003. Her research interests focus on riverine biodiversity management, and particularly the importance of trees and forests in catchments and how these influence the abundance and diversity of the freshwater habitat. Her background includes an Honours degree in Biology and Geography and a Ph.D. (University of London) in palaeocology relating the history of the landscape and vegetation of Lairg in Sutherland, with the prehistoric people who farmed, fished and managed the natural resources of the land over thousands of years. In 2003, Melanie joined UHI, where she oversaw the formation of the Rivers and Lochs Institute, forestry research and the Centre for Remote and Sustainable Communities. She currently leads the development of research and postgraduate activity. Melanie has also been involved with the research of the River Carron restoration and conservation programme since 2003, working with Bob Kindness and the Carron owners to ensure the conservation of salmon in the river is informed by research.
Melanie is the Director of the Rivers and Lochs Institute at the University of Highlands and Islands, Inverness College and has been a member of local fisheries organisations since 2003. Her research interests focus on riverine biodiversity management, and particularly the importance of trees and forests in catchments and how these influence the abundance and diversity of the freshwater habitat. Her background includes an Honours degree in Biology and Geography and a Ph.D. (University of London) in palaeocology relating the history of the landscape and vegetation of Lairg in Sutherland, with the prehistoric people who farmed, fished and managed the natural resources of the land over thousands of years. In 2003, Melanie joined UHI, where she oversaw the formation of the Rivers and Lochs Institute, forestry research and the Centre for Remote and Sustainable Communities. She currently leads the development of research and postgraduate activity. Melanie has also been involved with the research of the River Carron restoration and conservation programme since 2003, working with Bob Kindness and the Carron owners to ensure the conservation of salmon in the river is informed by research.
Ian Stewart
Trustee; Chair of the Portree Angling Association
Ian is the Chair of the Portree Angling Association. Ian’s family connection to Skye goes back many generations although he himself was brought up in Galloway. He lives in Uig, his ancestral homeland. Before his retirement Ian was a senior banker based in Edinburgh but working throughout the UK and Europe. On retirement he moved to Skye and set up a sport fly fishing business which he ran for several years and, in the meantime, co-authored a very successful walking book on Skye. He has had a life-long interest in Scottish history, particularly as it relates to the Island, and its environment and of course angling.
Ian is the Chair of the Portree Angling Association. Ian’s family connection to Skye goes back many generations although he himself was brought up in Galloway. He lives in Uig, his ancestral homeland. Before his retirement Ian was a senior banker based in Edinburgh but working throughout the UK and Europe. On retirement he moved to Skye and set up a sport fly fishing business which he ran for several years and, in the meantime, co-authored a very successful walking book on Skye. He has had a life-long interest in Scottish history, particularly as it relates to the Island, and its environment and of course angling.
Danny Docherty
Trustee
Danny is the full time Ghillie based on the River Snizort on the Isle of Skye. He also works as a fishing guide on the various Trout lochs across the island. Danny is a passionate salmon angler who has fished since childhood and continues to fish all over Scotland. He firmly believes that conservation work is vital to the long-term survival of the iconic Salmon & Sea Trout species.
Danny is the full time Ghillie based on the River Snizort on the Isle of Skye. He also works as a fishing guide on the various Trout lochs across the island. Danny is a passionate salmon angler who has fished since childhood and continues to fish all over Scotland. He firmly believes that conservation work is vital to the long-term survival of the iconic Salmon & Sea Trout species.
Seasonal Staff
SLRT relies heavily on seasonal staff and volunteers during the fieldwork season (April – September). If you are interested in volunteering or learning more about your local freshwater systems in the Skye and Lochalsh area, please contact us.
