Richard F. Comont

Richard has authored several books on the ecology, natural history, and identification of ladybirds and bumblebees, as well as co-authoring a natural history of the Malvern Hills. He is interested in biological recording and wildlife generally, but particularly in insects, and his day job is running the science side of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, particularly leading the Trust's bumblebee-monitoring citizen-science schemes, training volunteers in bee ID skills, and working to analyse the data gathered and apply the lessons to conservation work.

Away from the day job, he is the Chair of the Worcestershire Biological Records Centre, and part of the national verification teams for the UK Ladybird Survey and the Bees, Wasps, and Ants Recording Society, as well as for several beetle families. He was a co-lead on the national Garden BioBlitz project. He continues to regularly deliver training in insect identification and surveying, especially bumblebees, ladybirds, and shieldbugs.