Members' Weekend and AGM

Andy Abbott is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Leicester where his research focus is on sustainability and recycling particularly in the materials used for renewable energy.

He brings a wealth of experience of managing spin out enterprises, obtaining grant income and leading large international research projects. He is a keen artist, birdwatcher and gardener and is never happier than when he is in the great outdoors.

Andy has a voracious thirst for knowledge and is usually accompanied by a good field guide or a series of podcasts.

John has lived in the East Midlands for 30 years and in rural north Leicestershire since 2000.

He retired in 2022 from a career as a medical consultant and university professor, which included leading the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham.

He has held leadership roles in various regional, national and international organisations, including as Chair of UK Medical Schools Council. He has also held several Trustee and Non-Executive Director positions and is currently a Non-Executive Director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust.

John spends most of his leisure time in the great outdoors. He and his wife Carol are keen walkers, and John has broad interests in the natural world, including birds, butterflies and plants, especially wild orchids. He is also a keen vegetable gardener. Over recent years, he has become increasingly concerned about climate change and the threat to natural diversity.

Consequently, he took the lead for environmental sustainability in the University of Nottingham and has taken the non-executive lead for this area in his current role in University Hospitals Birmingham. John hopes to bring to the LRWT his passion for preserving wildlife and protecting the environment together with a broad experience of leadership and a particular expertise in the health and higher education sectors.

Taras was born and grew up in Leicester and has spent a number of years volunteering with the Trust's education team, leading the Rutland Water Wildlife Watch Group from 2019 to 2023. He holds an integrated master's degree in Biology (specialising in ecology and conservation) from the University of Oxford. While at University, he was active in raising awareness and increasing engagement with biodiversity and nature across both staff and students at the University and young people more widely. 

Currently, he works as a Junior Professional- World Heritage for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Cambridge. This primarily involves the evaluation of new natural nominations from countries to the UNESCO World Heritage List. He also volunteers for Conservation Optimism- a movement that works to raise awareness of conservation success stories and amazing work being done all across the world by organisations like LRWT to enable nature recovery. 

This will be his first experience of being a trustee and as a young British Indian in one of the most diverse regions of the UK, he is particularly interested in considering how the Trust can engage those groups and demographics that are currently most under-represented.

When I was a child, I fell in love with nature and that love turned into a lifelong passion. One of the many benefits of being Chief Executive of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) with offices in Peterborough and Aberdeen, was the opportunity to move to Rutland. Having studied at Leicester University, I was familiar with some of the surrounding area, but to me Rutland is like an undiscovered gem in the UK landscape, with expansive skies, soaring red kites and the oasis that is Rutland Water. It’s an inspiring place to live and I wish both to be an active part of the community and to give back to the land, water, plant life and wildlife that sustains us all.

I have the privilege of leading JNCC, the UK’s statutory advisor on nature, which has been at the heart of nature conservation and recovery in the UK, our Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, and around the world for over 30 years. I am also honoured to be appointed by Defra's Secretary of State to the Chilterns Conservation Board.

From 2016 to 2021, I led marine policy in Defra and I received an OBE for services to the marine environment, representing the collective effort of many talented colleagues. During my time at Defra, I founded the Civil Service Network for Nature, whose mission is to connect civil and public servants to celebrate nature. I also supported the UK COVID-19 response as Defra Director for Food Vulnerability, and co-led the team to win the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion award for 'Impact on the Citizen' in 2020.

As Chief Social Scientist for the Defra group (2010-2017), and with over 30 years leading interdisciplinary evidence teams, evidence is in my DNA. In 2020, I was honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. I am a Cambridge University Centre for Science and Policy Fellow and member of the International Women's Forum. 

I am committed to being a good ancestor through public service, organisational excellence, advocating evidence, mainstreaming biodiversity, championing inclusion, and diversifying the environmental sector.

Charlie has lived, studied and worked in Leicestershire and Rutland for most of his adult life. With a BSc in Geography, and an MSc and MPhil in Geographic Information Systems, Charlie works at the intersection of data science, cartography, computer science, and ecology as a Digital Ecologist. Charlie’s work experience spans both industrial and academic settings, developing technologies to help ecologists and environmental scientists collect, manage, analyse, share and communicate ecological and geospatial data.

Beyond his professional work, Charlie is passionate about freshwater ecology, ornithology, and paddle sports. He volunteers with the Canal & River Trust as a paddle sport instructor where he supports programmes that encourage engagement of the diverse Leicestershire community in the wellbeing benefits of blue-green spaces. Charlie also volunteers in water quality and bird monitoring programmes at Rutland Water Nature Reserve, and volunteers at his local food bank.

Emily was born and raised in Leicester before moving to Sheffield in 2004. She studied Modern Languages at the University of Sheffield, specialising in French and Russian, and then completed a Masters in International Relations at the University of Kent and Moscow Higher School of Economics. After a year in Moscow, she moved to Brussels to work as an assistant to an MEP in the European Parliament, spending five years there and eventually becoming a senior adviser on health and food safety policy.

Emily has always had a passion for nature and was keen to use her policy and political experience in the environment sector. In 2017, she moved to Belfast to work for the RSPB and then returned to Leicester in 2019, when she began her current role as Policy Advocate on Land Use at the Woodland Trust.

Outside of work, Emily is a mum to two young children and a keen runner. She has previously run a marathon to raise money for Buglife and enjoys taking part in a weekly Parkrun. She hopes to use her knowledge of environmental policy and legislation, and political experience, to support LRWT. Having taught herself almost everything she knows about nature, she is passionate about improving knowledge of and access to nature for children and young people and making urban spaces a little bit wilder.