The Team

Helen Brown

Helen Brown

Trust Manager

Rivers have always been my passion and my playground. I studied geography at Leeds university specialising in river basin management before moving to Scotland to work with Scottish Wildlife Trust. My first job being at the Falls of Clyde. In 2002 I took up the post of Trust Manager with WoLCT and have gradually built up our operations over the years, thanks to a wonderful staff team and volunteers.

Ruth Prince

Ruth Prince

Outdoor Learning Officer

Ruth has an Msc in Outdoor Environmental and Sustainability Education from Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. Her dissertation was called 'The Best Way to Learn about a River is Going in One'! She is an experienced outdoor teacher with groups from nursery to senior stage high school and special schools, as well as leading training.

Johnny Wells at Colinton Tunnel

Johnny Wells

Project Officer

Johnny is our boots on the ground worker who you’ll meet proudly wearing his high-viz jacket and busy doing something to improve the river or walkway most days. Johnny has a BSc in Social Work and has been involved in leading practical conservation tasks with groups for close to twenty years.

Dan Rayner

Conservation Officer

Dan’s background involves over a decade of experience in various forms of outdoor education and in recent years he has developed his experience in conservation and volunteer leadership through working at Easter Craiglockhart Hill. He has an honours degree in Sustainable Development and Social Anthropology gained in 2020 which is relevant to helping to care for a well-used river in an urban setting, and understanding the meanings and attachments people form and attribute to the river. Dan grew up locally and spent much of his youth exploring Colinton and Craiglockhart Dells, forming his own meaningful relationship with the Water of Leith. He considers the responsibility of looking after the river a great privilege and an absolute pleasure

Kat Kane

Visitor Centre and Admin Officer

I wear many hats in my role at the Visitor Centre. I support volunteers to run the café, assisting them with enquiries from the public, and I’ll always take time to say hello to the dogs that visit (and their owners too)! I can sometimes be found out in the woods doing what I love best; helping people connect with nature through events, birthday parties and guided walks. I also work behind the scenes as the Trust’s main Administrator and Membership Secretary. My background is in Volunteer Development, but I’ve had a strong love for the environment since I was young and the river is very much my happy place.

Michael Inman

Assistant Ranger

Having a love of the land I've planted Scots pine in Glen Nevis to pulling trollies out of Birdiehouse Burn in Edinburgh and haven't been afraid of getting my hands dirty in the name of conservation. Since my Graduation as an environmental arts student in 2020, I still couldn’t sit still and have been involved in numerous community projects from creating a dye garden to conserving a neolithic standing stone. I initially joined the team for a year as a trainee on the New to Nature scheme, but now I have stayed on for the summer to carry on my work connecting groups and volunteers with this wonderful river.

Gillian Wilson

Visitor Centre Officer

I work with Kat in the Visitor Centre supporting volunteers to run the cafe, doing admin and taking kids out to the river for birthday parties. The Water of Leith is one of my favourite places in Edinburgh and sharing it with others is a pleasure! My passions are the environment and human rights, especially helping New Scots to feel welcome and start a new life in Scotland. I love my allotment, growing some of my own food, and also help run a local group in Edinburgh loaning out electric cargo bikes to the community and supporting people to reduce their heating footprint

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