Stephanie Peay
Stephanie Peay (born 1959) is a British ecologist and crayfish researcher. Life and work Peay studied at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Hull, and in 2014 was awarded a PhD by the University of Leeds. She is a member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management and a Chartered Environmentalist. In her early professional career, in 1984, she compiled the first draft of the ancient woodland inventory for West Sussex. After working for the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group she worked for Cobham Resource Consultants, later part of the Scott Wilson Group, as an ecological consultant, where her interests in the white clawed crayfish, Austropotamobius pallipes and signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus began. As an independent crayfish researcher her research has concentrated on the protection of the UK native white clawed crayfish and restricting the invasion of the alien signal crayfish. Peay is a leading proponent of crayfish conservation and management in Britain and has produced much of the guidance on crayfish used by British ecologists and managers on survey and monitoring methods, restoration of habitat, mitigation during works on waterbodies, and, latterly, on "ark sites" to safeguard white-clawed crayfish. She also provides advice and training for