Sheppard, Ralph: - "Ralph Sheppard is an ecologist living in Donegal, where he has been monitoring the birds since the 1950s. He has a B.A. (Natural Science) from Dublin University in 1968, and an M.Sc. (Ecology) from University of Wales in 1972. He was employed as a Lecturer in Ecology at Bristol Polytechnic 1970 -1978, and was an ecological consultant in Ireland from 1978 to retirement in 2010. He is the author of Ireland's Wetland Wealth: the report of the Winter Wetlands Survey 1984/5 to 1986/7 (Irish Wildbird Conservancy), and has contributed chapters to Atlas of County Donegal, ed. Mac Laughlin and Beatty (Cork University Press) and The Natural History of Ulster, ed. Faulkner and Thompson (National Museums Northern Ireland). He was a Member of the Designated Areas Appeals Advisory Board 1999 - 2020. He has served on the councils of Irish Wildbird Conservancy and An Taisce, and was the first chair of Irish Wildbird Conservancy's Donegal branch."