Gloucestershire Centre
for Environmental Records

Our history

GCER's current data holdings and services are the result of over 30 years of history as a Local Environmental Records Centre.

A Gloucestershire biological records centre was established in 1990, as Gloucestershire Environmental Data Unit (GEDU). Originally set up by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, GEDU then transferred administration to Gloucestershire Wildlife Management, an independent, affiliated consultancy.

This situation continued until 2007, when GEDU became GCER, the Gloucestershire Centre for Environmental Records. Basic administration was taken over by the Wildlife Trust once more; however, GCER's output retains a distinct style and identity.

picture of the previous record centre logo showing an atlas-style map of the county
The old GEDU logo showed an atlas-style map of the county

The new GCER logo, showing a barn owl with a computer mouse in its beak. His name is Piers. (The owl, not the mouse. The mouse's name is Algernon.)
The new GCER Owl logo was "hatched" in 2008

the old GCER office at Robinswood Hill Country Park
The old GCER office prior to the 2020 refurbishment of the GWT headquarters at Robinswood Hill Country Park

In April 2012 we moved from our longstanding headquarters at Church House, Standish (pictured in the background) to the headquarters of our host, Gloucestershire Wildife Trust, based at Robinswood Hill Country Park, Gloucester.

During 2019, work began on the refurbishment of the GWT headquarters at Robinswood Hill Country Park. All staff moved out of the Conservation Centre and into temporary offices at King's House in the centre of Gloucester. The refurbished building was re-opened in September 2020 after long delays due to the Covid-19 crisis. With greatly-improved sustainability features, spacious new mezzanine office and archive space for GCER files, the Conservation Centre had a total facelift.

By the beginning of 2021 our main database had over 2 million records of species sightings and digitised habitat map coverage for over half the county. We now provide data services to a wide range of local planning authorities, conservation organisations, consultancies, naturalists and members of the public.

Past volunteers

Some of our GCER office volunteers have finished their task and moved on to other volunteering, some retired, some moved from the area, and many left to start a new job. We are most grateful to all of them for giving their time to help us.

(in no particular order! Hover or drag over the list to stop it scrolling)

Bill Francis - spent many years on all sorts of data entry, GIS and deciphering recorders' erratic handwriting! Now having a well-deserved retirement!
Julia Morrison - digitising habitat survey, entering historic bird records. Julia is still a colleague: she now works for Wild Service!
Andrew Leach - RIP. Andrew spent many hours volunteering both for GWT and GCER, entering vast amounts of data into our original database. He then became a permanent member of staff, retiring in 2019.
Dora and Ernie Clarke - volunteered regularly at Church House to check incoming planning applications - and also spent many hours doing voluntary nature reserve monitoring for GWT. RIP Dora and Ernie, fondly remembered.
Jim Benning - volunteered at Church House for years, painstakingly finding grid references for handwritten bird record cards - our current work on digitising these records couldn't happen without his efforts.
Rob Curtis - volunteered at a wide range of tasks at Church House and Robinswood Hill for several years - took over from Holly York as GCER's Biodiversity Information Officer in 2014, became our Environmental Records Officer and left for pastures new in 2022.
Josh Baum - GIS (old and new habitat surveys) - also a stalwart of Stroud Wildlife Survey Group, now working for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly records centre
Stephanie James-Melling - digitising Phase 1 Habitat Survey
Andrea Bankes - entering historic bird records
Tina Creed - entering historic bird records
Charlotte Scrivens - digitising old habitat survey
Samantha Cheater - digitising old habitat survey
Grace O Donovan - digitising recent Phase 1 Habitat Survey
Zoe Ashbrook - maintaining the Key Wildlife Site database
Lucy Warner - entering historic bird records, digitising old habitat survey
Alex Bye - entering historic bird records, scanning documents
Ant Hird - entering historic bird records, entering nature reserve management information onto CMSi
Alex Cornelius - GIS (old and new habitat surveys)
Charlotte Williams – historic bird records data entry
Helen Griffiths – historic bird records data entry
Georgia Marchington – GIS (old habitat survey) & historic bird records data entry
Rosemary Moxon – historic bird records data entry
Jonathan Yardley - GIS (old habitat survey)
Imogen - GIS (old habitat survey)
Helen Davidson - GIS (old habitat survey)
Stephanie Cosgrove - GIS (old and new habitat surveys)
Jacqueline Jobes – historic bird records data entry - now the Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership Manager!
Ruth Crawford – historic bird records data entry
John Sanders – historic bird records data entry
Wil Carnet – historic bird records data entry
Paige Garrett – historic bird records data entry
Fiona Day – historic bird records data entry
Beryl Smith – historic bird records data entry
Molly Verry – historic bird records data entry
Graham Tenant – historic bird records data entry
Ellen Stahl – historic bird records data entry
Terry Wiltshire – historic bird records data entry
Sue Anderson – historic bird records data entry
Christine Adlem – historic bird records data entry
Robert Barber - entering historic bird records, scanning historic woodland surveys. Now on a conservation Apprenticeship
Nick Cosnett - GIS, digitising historic habitat survey, entering historic bird data
Hannah Beckett - GIS, digitising old and recent habitat survey and entering historic bird records
Jennifer Rogers - entering historic bird records
Chris Hawkins - entering historic bird records
Keith Gray - scanning archive documents, entering historic bird records
Lydia Spindler - GIS, digitising historic bird records, varied data entry
Peter Jardine - digitising historic habitat survey
Rea Atkinson - digitising historic habitat survey
Peter Clifford-Smith - digitising historic habitat survey
Victoria Watling - digitising historic habitat survey
Harry Minhinnick - digitising historic habitat survey
Helen Warren - digitising historic habitat survey
Ashley Twarog - digitising Phase 1 Habitat Survey and historic habitat survey
Maria Arenes - digitising historic habitat survey
Ryan Wilshire - digitising habitat survey
James Raywood - digitising habitat survey
Joshua Keane - digitising habitat survey
Sara Rodriguez - digitising habitat survey
Lizzie Donkin - digitising habitat survey
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Please let us know if we've missed anyone off the "roll of honour"!