Patron: The Earl of Selborne KBE FRS
We are pleased to welcome Lord Selborne as Pond Conservation's patron.
Lord Selborne is a hereditary member of the House of Lords and a member and past chairman of its Select Committee on Science and Technology. He chairs the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He is also Chairman of Blackmoor Estate Ltd, a farming company with interests in fruit growing and packing, nursery produce and dairy farming. He has previously served as Chancellor of the University of Southampton, President of the Royal Geographical Society, Chairman of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Chairman of the Agricultural and Food Research Council.
Pond Conservation is guided by the board of trustees
Hugh Becker, chair of trustees
Hugh chairs the North Pennines AONB Peatscapes Advisory Board and the Environment Agency sponsored Upland Hydrology Group. He is Chairman of New College, Durham and a Public Member of Network Rail. In addition to a practical understanding of the principles of governance, Hugh brings high-level business skills with special experience in the countryside and environmental sector, and knowledge of working with the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Dr Steve Head
Steve has a background in University lecturing in ecology, zoology and geology and has managed conservation NGOs for 15 years, including a period as Director of Pond Conservation. His principal skills are in strategic and financial planning, charity management and governance, engaging partnerships and funders, and writing, public speaking and media work. He has a personal interest in the role of the public in conservation, is Coordinator and founder member of the National Wildlife Gardening Forum, and is a Secretary of State Member on the Exmoor National Park Authority.
Roger Thomas
Roger has been the Chief Executive of CCW for the last 7 years. A biologist by training, he has spent his career in the water industry and environmental management. Before coming to CCW, he was Director of Environment Agency Wales. The main focus of his time at CCW has been on mitigating for, and adapting to, climate change. Roger is also the Secretary-Treasurer of the EEAC (the European network of environment and sustainable development advisory councils), a founder member of ENCA (the European network of heads of conservation agencies), chair of the Coed Cymru Partnership and a trustee of Tir Coed (both woodland charities operating in Wales) and a Board member of Cynnal Cymru (the Welsh sustainable development promotion body).
Dr Mark Avery
Mark heads up the RSPB's work on nature conservation and environmental policy, covering areas as diverse as buying and managing land for nature reserves to lobbying governments on greenhouse gas emissions. A scientist by training, Dr Avery has been involved with many reserach projects.
Professor Lorraine Maltby
Lorraine is Professor of Environmental Biology at The University of Sheffield and her research interests are in the areas of freshwater ecology and ecotoxicology. She has served on the European and global governing bodies of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry and on two UK government advisory committees (Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances, Advisory Committee on Pesticides). Lorraine is currently a member of the European Food Safety Authority expert group on ecotoxicology and a Council member of the Freshwater Biological Association.
Craig Blackwell
Craig is trained in Biology, Ecology and Landscape Architecture, and has been working in Nature Conservation all his career beginning at Lincolnshire Naturalist’s Trust as a Team Leader for an Ecological Sites Survey of the County. Craig became the County Ecologist with Nottinghamshire County Council in 1977 and then moved on to become County Ecologist with Oxfordshire County Council in the early nineties until retiring in 2009. He is still closely involved with a range of conservation projects in the County and this includes being a Trustee of the Oxfordshire Nature Conservation Forum, and trying to set up a new version of Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE) as a registered Charity with other partners.
Martin Layer
Martin is a Chartered Geologist with long experience in quarry planning and development. He has worked in the industry for multinationals and regional companies as well as many years as a consultant. He is currently responsible for planning and estates for Oxfordshire quarry company Smiths Bletchington and is active in the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and the British Aggregates Association (BAA) on a range of technical committees. He is an advocate of the benefits that mineral extraction can deliver for geological conservation and for biodiversity and is on the advisory group to the Nature after Minerals partnership between Natural England and RSPB. He has championed ponds through the MPA and BAA and worked closely with Pond Conservation's Million Ponds Project to apply best practice advice for pond creation on mineral sites.
Juliette Jowit
Juliette is an environment journalist for The Guardian and The Observer newspapers. She previously worked for The Financial Times, where she won two awards for business journalism, and has written for other publications including The New Statesman, the Kew Gardens magazine and Parliamentary Monitor. Although she writes widely about policy, science and other issues, she has particular interest in and wonder at the natural world, and loves being outdoors.
Robert Barker (Honorary Treasurer)
Bob read History at Bristol University, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse and subsequently spent 12 years as a senior manager in the financial services sector. In 1996 he joined CLIC, the children‘s cancer charity, as Director of Finance and Administration, and in 2005 moved on to Sunfield in the same role. Sunfield provides 52 week residential care and education for children with severe and complex learning needs. In recent years the organisation has evolved to become pre-eminent in its field, having developed an internationally significant range of services for profoundly autistic children. Bob is responsible for two large ponds in the grounds of Sunfield, and has maintained a wildlife-only pond in his own back garden for the last 25 years.
