How do I find a good ecology consultant? It all comes down to being an informed buyer. There's three ways you can do this. The first is by getting referrals from your peers. Referrals are a great way to get good information quickly. A second way, if you're going through a regulatory process, is to ask those regulators for referrals. Their help desk may be hesitant to provide recommendations, as they may have a policy of not recommending one consultant over another. If that happens, you could ask to speak to one of their in-house ecologists because they'll often be a bit more forthcoming. Thirdly, ask the consultants any tricky questions before you've engaged them. Questions such as, “How do you deal with changes in scope or if things crop up that we haven't discussed now?” A good consultant will identify issues early, so their advice can inform the design process, rather than just giving you the answer you want hear, which might lead to delays in the design process later on when things crop up.