Gail Jeffcoate
Gail has dedicated herself to the conservation of Lepidoptera since the 1980s. She is an expert on chalk downland butterflies and downland management, and her work on the National Trust Box Hill Committee has been pivotal in the management there. She has done a remarkable job with her two specialist species – the Small Blue and Adonis Blue – and played a key role in getting Surrey’s Small Blue project established so successfully.
Gail has been an active member of Butterfly Conservation in Surrey for many years and has serves as Transect Co-ordinator, County Recorder and as part of the Surrey Nature Partnership Biodiversity Working Group. She has been walking transects since 1995, including Oaken Wood, Box Hill Viewpoint, Denbies Landbarn and Denbies Hillside. At a national level, she served on the Conservation Committee for many years and was co-author of The Millenium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland.
Gail did a great deal of recording on the Isle of Man from 2003-2014 and did a great deal to raise the profile of butterflies on the island. She is well-respected for her expertise, persistence and accuracy and is always willing to share her knowledge. She has inspired many other Lepidoptera enthusiasts and the conservation activities of the Surrey branch are much stronger thanks to her input over the years.