Viola is responsible for promoting BTO science. She also edits BTO News and helps to manage BTO social media.

Viola has been working full-time in science communications since 2015. Before then, she was a seabird ecologist for several years, and honed her communcation skills tackling inaccurate coverage of gulls in the media. She holds a BTO C permit for bird ringing. Viola has also worked in campaigns for RSPB, in gibbon conservation in Thailand, and in policy for the European Institutions in Brussels.

BA (Hons) Natural Sciences (Zoology), University of Cambridge 2002
PhD Pecking response in Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks Larus fuscus, Cardiff University 2009