Dr Paul Stebbing, Invasive and Non-Native Species Team Leader

How did your career start, and what led you to APEM?

I have always had a keen interest in the natural environment and it was something I could see myself working on for the rest of my life, so a Zoology degree at Cardiff University was a natural progression. During my degree I became particularly interested in the freshwater environment, so proceeded to do an MSc in freshwater ecology and hydrology, also at Cardiff. After doing a PhD at Newcastle University on the management of invasive crayfish, I went on to work for Cefas, first as a fish health inspector and then developing and leading the invasive species work area in Weymouth. I was keen get involved in more proactive and applied work in invasive species, so when I saw APEM advertising for a role to develop their invasive species work area I jumped at the chance.

How have you progressed through the company?

I originally started as a principal invasive species consultant in 2019 with the exciting challenge of building the work area and team. APEM already had an excellent track record of working on invasive species, which provided a really great foundation for me to build on. After a couple of years and much support from APEM in growing the work area and team I was promoted to Associate Director in 2022.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned since being in your current role?

Every day is a learning day in APEM! I find the remote sensing work we do incredibly fascinating and the application of the aerial surveys to such a broad range of work areas, including the detection and monitoring of invasive species, is amazing.

What’s the best thing about your work area?

There are two ‘best’ things about working on invasive species: the challenges and the people. The management of invasive species is a very diverse work area and every question we are asked or problem we look into for our clients is unique, meaning a new challenge every day. Meeting these challenges requires a lot of innovation and the bringing together of a broad range of disciplines to find suitable solutions, which brings me on to the other ‘best’ thing: the people I work with. Not only am I privileged enough to lead a team of very talented and enthusiastic invasion biologists and ecologists with specialisms in marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments, but the other work areas from across the organisation are also engaged, providing support and innovative ideas to deliver when we need their input on particular issues. This allows us to provide well-considered and multi-disciplinary approaches to meet our clients’ needs.

What’s your proudest achievement so far?

I think it’s the development of the work area and establishing APEM’s invasive species team. I have such great support, guidance and encouragement from APEM as a whole, especially Drs Mike Dobson, David Bradley, Adrian Williams and Hannah Austin that it’s been really enjoyable and an incredible learning experience. Their level of belief in me and the understanding of the need for a dedicated invasive species team to meet our clients’ needs has really helped to drive the development of the work area forwards. As we continue to develop and evolve the invasive species team and work area, I think it will always be one of my proudest achievements.

What it is like working for APEM?

Amazing! The people are great and some of the best scientists I have ever had the privilege of working with. There is a real feeling of innovation, collective thinking and drive which I have not experienced elsewhere which makes working for APEM really enjoyable. The understanding within management that the people are the heart and soul of the organisation is apparent in the well-being culture at APEM which makes for a really supportive working environment.

What do you do outside work?

I have two children with my wife, so I try and spend as much time with my family as possible, playing games, painting, bike riding, swimming and eating- the normal things kids (of all ages) like to do. I also like to play rugby when not injured (my last one was a dislocated shoulder which took a while to get over) and painting pictures, mostly badly.

The science of invasive species detection, management and mitigation is developing at speed. How do you think INNS will affect your work in the future?

The invasive species work area is always evolving with new challenges in relation to novel introductions occurring, new routes of invasion becoming established and already-introduced invasive species spreading. Taking a proactive approach in trying to identify these issues early is essential and will need to become more important in order to get ahead of the challenge. Work we are currently undertaking in order to risk assess specific locations and pathways, such as the development of SAI-RAT and our marine pathways assessment tool, will be very important in identifying risks to inform the implementation of mitigation measures prior to invasions occurring.

Watch Paul in action on our webinar: Managing terrestrial INNS in the UK: lessons learnt from other island nations