Who We Are
Our work would not be possible without our incredible team.
Co-founder
Dr Rhiannon Bolton
BVMedSci (Hons), BVM BVS,
MRes, PhD, MRCVS
Rhiannon is a veterinary surgeon who is dedicated and determined to conserve biodiversity. She studied at the University of Nottingham obtaining a BVetMedSci (Hons) degree; her dissertation focused on reproductive dysfunction in captive female great apes. Rhiannon went on to complete both BVM and BVS degrees and joined the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2012.
Following experience as a veterinarian in first opinion small animal and wildlife practices, she was appointed as a Senior Veterinary Inspector for the Animal and Plant Health Agency, focusing on welfare and notifiable disease surveillance.
Returning to academia, Rhiannon worked as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and was awarded Wellcome Trust funding to conduct a MRes degree investigating the influences of environmental contaminants on adrenal gland development.
Rhiannon was then awarded an Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment Doctoral Training Programme PhD studentship funded by the Natural Environment Research Council at the University of Liverpool and became a Chester Zoo Conservation Scholar.
Her research focuses on the physiology behind social behaviour and factors that may influence this, and reproduction and welfare in captive endangered cooperatively breeding mammals.
Rhiannon is a key member of the Nature’s SAFE team and has been pivotal in establishing the charity.