Meet the ESB tutors

Dr Frank Ashwood

Frank's passion for nature led him to study Biology at university, where he carried out research projects into invertebrate ecology in Scotland and Mexico. Frank then worked on a number of UK biodiversity research projects where he carried out identification for various ground invertebrates, before undertaking a PhD studying earthworm ecology on reclaimed landfill sites.

He now works as a soil ecologist for Forest Research, where he studies soil biodiversity in UK woodlands. In his spare time Frank is a passionate communicator on soil biology, and volunteers as the research officer for the Earthworm Society of Britain.
 

Keiron Derek Brown 

Keiron first became interested in invertebrates during a field-based entomology module at university and went on to volunteer on soil biodiversity research projects at the Natural History Museum (London). This included sorting samples of invertebrates to order level and sampling invertebrates across the New Forest in Hampshire and the Malaysian rainforests of Borneo.

Keiron developed and managed the FSC BioLinks project that focused on training people to identify and record invertebrates before setting up the Biological Recording Company to continue this work. In his spare time he is the Chair of the Ecology & Entomology Section of the London Natural History Society and is the national recorder for earthworms (running the National Earthworm Recording Scheme on behalf of the ESB).

Kerry Calloway

Kerry first became interested in soil invertebrates when volunteering on biodiversity research projects at the Natural History Museum (London). This included sorting samples of invertebrates to order level and sampling invertebrates across the New Forest in Hampshire and the Malaysian rainforests of Borneo. This is also where she began specialising in earthworms.

Kerry is a trustee for the Earthworm Society of Britain and has been for over 10 years. Kerry is the society Secretary and designs the annual strategy for the recording society. In addition, she regularly runs earthworm identification training courses and events. 

 

Emma Sherlock

Emma is the Senior Curator of Free-living Worms at the Natural History Museum, London. Although she curates numerous phyla of worms at the museum, her main research area is earthworms. She has published over 20 scientific papers and is the author of the FSC AIDGAP Key to the Earthworms of the UK & Ireland. She has currently described 8 new earthworm species to science (from Nicaragua, Belize and Cameroon) and participates in fieldwork both throughout the UK and abroad (Nicaragua, Vietnam, Hungary, Romania and France). 

Emma was one of the founders of the Earthworm Society of Britain back in 2009 and is currently the Chair of the Society.