Dr. D. Philip Whitfield received his Ph.D. and Research Fellowship in the early 1980s from Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, respectively. He joined Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the government's advisor on conservation in Scotland, as an upland ornithologist, when the NCC devolved to country agencies in 1992, undertaking and commissioning research and providing advice on a wide range of ornithological issues. He left SNH as a senior ornithologist to join Natural Research in 2005. In late 2009, he became the Managing Director of Natural Research (Projects). He was the primary author and developer of the original SNH guidance on assessment methods for wind farm impacts on birds. This guidance has now become the basis for most EIAs undertaken in the UK and is recognized as the industry standard.
