A Highland teenager has won a brace of awards for his pioneering study of newts in Wester Ross.
Callum Ullman-Smith last year became the youngest person ever to present results to the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Symposium at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.
Now aged 13, he has been awarded two significant prizes within a week for his study of coastal palmate newts.
First he was given the John Muir Trust conserver award at a ceremony in Inverness.
And then he was named the inaugural winner of the David Robertson Marine and Coastal Youth Award, presented by the National Biodiversity Network at an event in York.
Callum has been working with the Highland Seashore Biodiversity Project as the project’s youngest seashore life surveyor.
He has worked as a volunteer on the project for over three years and has been conducting personal research into coastal palmate newts in a set of rock pools on the shore of Loch Alsh.
Callum said: “To win is beyond anything I expected and to know that other people felt like I was doing something worthy of an award is beyond words, I am very grateful.
“I love being out recording the animals and plants that I find, I know that information can make a difference to how we care for our environment and with understanding more we can do more.”
Janet Bromham, Highland Council’s local biodiversity officer and manager of the Highland Seashore Biodiversity Project, said: “The JMT conserver award involves 20 days or equivalent over six months on discovering wild places, exploring, conserving wild places by taking responsibility for them and sharing that experience.
“It can be safely said that Callum has done all of that and more and managed to share his massive enthusiasm for the nature of the Highlands and its coast with everyone he meets. We are all very proud of him”