About Us
Introduction
Bracken and Wild was set up by Larissa Cooper in 2017. Larissa has been an ecologist since 2012 and spent six years at the Natural History Museum in London before coming back to East Anglia. She holds an FdSc in Ecology and Conservation and a BSc (Hons) in Ecology. Larissa is also a Member of the Institution of Environmental Sciences (MIEnvSc). In 2026 the business became a limited company, Bracken & Wild Ecology Ltd.
We're based in Breckland and work across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex.
What we know best
Larissa's background is in botany, and plants are still the first thing she looks at on any site. She also has a particular interest in woodland, ancient and veteran trees, and invertebrates, especially how habitats can be managed to support them.
It matters because a site's value is rarely about one species. Knowing the plants and the insects that depend on them means we pick up things a quick walkover can miss, and the advice we give reflects the whole site.
Bats make up a large part of her work. Larissa holds a Natural England bat survey licence and carries out roost assessments on buildings and trees, emergence and re-entry surveys and static detector monitoring, then advises clients on what the results mean for their project, including whether a licence is likely to be needed.
Our team
Larissa works with a small team of contractors: ecologists and specialists she has worked alongside for years, who join projects when the season gets busy or a job calls for a particular skill. Every contractor is suitably qualified and insured. You deal with Larissa from first enquiry to final report, and she checks everything that goes out under the Bracken and Wild name.
Get in touch
If you have a site that needs surveying, or a planning condition you need help with, send us the details and we'll come back to you.