BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PROFESSOR SIR JOHN BEDDINGTON FRS (CHAIRMAN)

John Beddington started his studies initially at the LSE where he took a BSc and MSc. He then moved to Edinburgh to do a PhD in what was then the rather new discipline of Mathematical Ecology. His academic career was initially at York University and subsequently at Imperial College. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001 and appointed CMG in 2004. He was from 2008 until 2013 the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) reporting directly to the Prime Minister. As GCSA, he was responsible for increasing the scientific capacity across Whitehall by encouraging all major departments of state to recruit a Chief Scientific Adviser.

During his time as GCSA he set up the Scientific Advisory Group in Emergencies (SAGE) that reported to the COBRA committee. He ran the Foresight Team that reported on such varied issues as Food Security, Climate Change Threats and High Speed Financial Trading and was responsible for reviews on inter alia Nuclear Energy, High Speed Computing in Climate Science and the Scientific Contribution to National Security. He was awarded a Knighthood in 2010 and in June 2014 received The Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese Government. He is the Senior Adviser to the Oxford Martin School and Professor of Natural Resource Management at Oxford University. Amongst other activities he is a Non-Executive Director of the Met Office (currently Acting Chair) and chairs the Systemic Risk Institute at the LSE. He is President of London Zoo and a Trustee of the Natural History Museum.

DR OLIVER DOUBLEDAY (DEPUTY CHAIR)

After working for a DPhil in the MRC Cell Mutation Unit at Sussex University, Dr. Doubleday worked at the Université libre de Bruxelles studying DNA repair and DNA polymerase fidelity. He then returned to work on the family farm in Kent, growing cereals, apples, pears, cherries and keeping sheep. With his Brazilian wife he is involved in the management of a rubber plantation and a sugar cane farm in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has also had experience of farming in the USA and New Zealand.

A former Chairman of National Farmers Union’s Parliamentary Land Use and Environment Committee he was a member of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan Steering Group, the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment and the EU’s Consultative Forum on the Environment and Sustainable Development. He has served as a director of the Brogdale Horticultural Trust (custodians of the National Fruit Collection), Silsoe Research Institute and Grainfarmers plc, and as vice chairman of the Apple & Pear Research Council and chairman of East Malling Research.

PROFESSOR ANDREW BALMFORD

Andrew Balmford is Professor of Conservation Science in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, where his research focuses on how to reconcile biodiversity conservation with meeting human food needs and other land-demanding activities; the costs and benefits of retaining intact ecosystems; and identifying what works in conservation.

He collaborates closely with conservation practitioners and with colleagues in other disciplines, including economics and psychology. In his book Wild Hope he argues that cautious, evidence-based optimism is vital in tackling environmental challenges. Andrew helped establish the Student Conference on Conservation Science, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, and Earth Optimism.

PROFESSOR BRIDGET EMMETT

Professor Bridget Emmett, UKCEH Science Area Head for Soils and Land Use and Head of Site UKCEH Bangor. Particular interest in soils and ecosystem science. Many projects involve a role as PI in coordinating a large number of partners to improve integration across different disciplines and sectors from catchment/landscape to national scale to support policy development and outcome reporting.

Current areas of interest and activity include; soil health; impact of land management on natural capital and the implications for ecosystem services; land-sea interactions; impacts of air pollution and climate change on soils and ecosystem function; new data and modelling tools for supporting policy development and improving evidence for natural capital accounts and a wide mix of environmental, economic and social outcomes. Techniques include national-scale surveys and monitoring; long-term, field-scale manipulation experiments, data visualisation tools and development of integrated modelling platforms; and robust evidence provision using an integrated assessment approach. Research income has come from a wide range of funders including NERC, BBSRC, EPSRC, DEFRA, Welsh and Scottish Governments. International work includes over 9 EU projects as UK lead and currently includes membership of the EU mission Board for Soil Health and Food; work in China funded through the Newton programme and work in Nigeria, S.Africa and Nepal.

MR JAN HOLTHUIS

Jan Holthuis, partner and lawyer at BUREN, is Dutch qualified lawyer registered at the Amsterdam Bar, a solicitor in England and Wales. Jan founded HIL International Lawyers & Advisers in 1995. HIL became the first Dutch law firm licensed in China by the Chinese Ministry of Justice in 2004. In 2016 Jan merged the HIL practice with Buren. Jan specializes in corporate and commercial law, in particular China related cross-border M&A and corporate restructuring, international technology transfers, China related product liability insurance claims and international arbitration.

Jan is a registered arbitrator at the China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHAIC). He has set up the Agriculture Law Section of the International Bar Association in 2015, was the Chair for many years and is presently a member of the Advisory Board. Jan has been involved in many politically sensitive China related international transactions and litigations acting for Western and Chinese clients.

PROFESSOR JULIE GRAY

PROFESSOR MATT LOBLEY

NEIL SCRAGG

PROFESSOR SANDY THOMAS, OBE