Lara Broom

Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Lara has a degree in Biology from the University of Lisbon and a masters in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto. Her master thesis on “The effect of helpers on the post-fledging survival of a cooperatively breeding bird, the sociable weaver” was used in a bigger, long-term project studying a Sociable Weaver population in South Africa, where she spent two field seasons collecting data. In 2014, Lara moved to the UK where she worked for the RSPB for a year and a half in the Membership Department. In 2017, Lara started working for Naturetrek in the Reservations and Customer Service Team, before moving into the busy Operations Team, overseeing tours to Portugal, Spain, France and South America.

Her desire was always to move back home, and she had the opportunity to do so in 2019, when she started working for the Portuguese BirdLife partner – SPEA – where she is now responsible for organising and guiding birdwatching excursions across Portugal, as well as day walks, participating in fairs and other birdwatching events, while also being part of the Membership division.

Despite birdwatching being her ‘first love’, she is interested in all nature and enjoys stopping to look at orchids, butterflies and other species, taking advantage of her local knowledge of the Portuguese fauna and flora.