Our Fellowship programmes are guided by Working Groups of subject specialists. They are led by members of our Advisory Council and supported by Fellows, and partner organisations. Each Working Group identifies a topical issue around which to focus a programme of Fellowships, and then supports its delivery and promotion. Members are available to help Fellows in that programme with advice and networking.
Our Environment Working Group has helped to design two of our current programmes: Climate change and Caring for our natural environment.
Working Group member
Elizabeth Buchanan is a non-executive director of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She is a trustee of The Royal Countryside Fund and a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. An organic beef farmer in East Sussex, Elizabeth is a special advisor to Waitrose, McDonald’s and Saputo and sits on the BBC’s Rural Affairs Committee.
Working Group member
Síofra Caherty is a sustainable designer and educator under her studio Jump The Hedges. Her Fellowship in 2018 focused on exploring zero waste approaches within design, community and education.
Working Group member
Mohammed Dhalech is an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Manager working for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and spends his spare time working on EDI in the outdoor and environment sector. His Fellowship in 2019 focused on engaging ethnic minorities in the outdoors.
Working Group member
Elizabeth Leighton is a consultant advocating for greater ambition from the Scottish Government on climate change and fuel poverty through two leadership groups: the Climate Emergency Response Group and the Existing Homes Alliance Scotland. Her Fellowship in 2011 researched the impact of home energy efficiency programmes in the USA.
Working Group member
Emeritus Professor Peter Liss is a member of our Advisory Council and an environmental scientist at the University of East Anglia. A pioneer in the field of global biogeochemical cycles, he chairs several scientific committees, was a member of DEFRA’s Science Advisory Council and a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. He has been Executive Director of the International Science Council. Peter was awarded the Challenger Society Medal and the John Jeyes Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Working Group member
Jill Matthews is a lifelong conservationist who worked on National Nature Reserves in Scotland. Now she helps grass-roots conservation bodies locally and overseas. Current projects include a local trail on nature and climate change, waste management and wildlife conservation in East Africa. Her 2011 Fellowship explored community-run wildlife conservancies in Namibia and Kenya to learn how they work and how communities benefit.
Working Group member
Liam is the Director for the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s Environment Programme. Prior to this, Liam held senior roles at the Lake District National Park Authority. Liam started his career in DEFRA and BEIS as well as leading a marine environmental consultancy. His Fellowship in 2018 looked at sustainable models of farming.
Working Group member
Jenny Pickerill is a Professor of Environmental Geography working at University of Sheffield. Her Fellowship in 2010 focused on how to build affordable eco-homes for all.
Working Group member
Catriona is a consultant on the Energy & Renewables team for a firm of land agents, based in Scotland, and working primarily on windfarm agreements. Her 1991 Fellowship related to her role in an international project to establish a field studies centre in the Brunei rainforest.
Working Group member
Duncan Vaughan is a Marine Fisheries Senior Specialist working Natural England helping to develop the environmental policies that will deliver the Fisheries Objectives set out in the new Fisheries Act 2020. Duncan's Fellowship in 2017 explored how marine planning could deliver environmental benefits in our wider seas and support marine protected areas.
Working Group member
Adam Weymouth is a freelance writer and journalist, working on climate change and the environment. His Fellowship in 2018 focused on telling the human stories behind a rapidly changing Arctic, in Alaska.
Working Group member
Elizabeth Buchanan is a non-executive director of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She is a trustee of The Royal Countryside Fund and a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. An organic beef farmer in East Sussex, Elizabeth is a special advisor to Waitrose, McDonald’s and Saputo and sits on the BBC’s Rural Affairs Committee.
Working Group member
Síofra Caherty is a sustainable designer and educator under her studio Jump The Hedges. Her Fellowship in 2018 focused on exploring zero waste approaches within design, community and education.
Working Group member
Mohammed Dhalech is an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Manager working for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service and spends his spare time working on EDI in the outdoor and environment sector. His Fellowship in 2019 focused on engaging ethnic minorities in the outdoors.
Working Group member
Elizabeth Leighton is a consultant advocating for greater ambition from the Scottish Government on climate change and fuel poverty through two leadership groups: the Climate Emergency Response Group and the Existing Homes Alliance Scotland. Her Fellowship in 2011 researched the impact of home energy efficiency programmes in the USA.
Working Group member
Emeritus Professor Peter Liss is a member of our Advisory Council and an environmental scientist at the University of East Anglia. A pioneer in the field of global biogeochemical cycles, he chairs several scientific committees, was a member of DEFRA’s Science Advisory Council and a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. He has been Executive Director of the International Science Council. Peter was awarded the Challenger Society Medal and the John Jeyes Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Working Group member
Jill Matthews is a lifelong conservationist who worked on National Nature Reserves in Scotland. Now she helps grass-roots conservation bodies locally and overseas. Current projects include a local trail on nature and climate change, waste management and wildlife conservation in East Africa. Her 2011 Fellowship explored community-run wildlife conservancies in Namibia and Kenya to learn how they work and how communities benefit.
Working Group member
Liam is the Director for the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation’s Environment Programme. Prior to this, Liam held senior roles at the Lake District National Park Authority. Liam started his career in DEFRA and BEIS as well as leading a marine environmental consultancy. His Fellowship in 2018 looked at sustainable models of farming.
Working Group member
Jenny Pickerill is a Professor of Environmental Geography working at University of Sheffield. Her Fellowship in 2010 focused on how to build affordable eco-homes for all.
Working Group member
Catriona is a consultant on the Energy & Renewables team for a firm of land agents, based in Scotland, and working primarily on windfarm agreements. Her 1991 Fellowship related to her role in an international project to establish a field studies centre in the Brunei rainforest.
Working Group member
Duncan Vaughan is a Marine Fisheries Senior Specialist working Natural England helping to develop the environmental policies that will deliver the Fisheries Objectives set out in the new Fisheries Act 2020. Duncan's Fellowship in 2017 explored how marine planning could deliver environmental benefits in our wider seas and support marine protected areas.
Working Group member
Adam Weymouth is a freelance writer and journalist, working on climate change and the environment. His Fellowship in 2018 focused on telling the human stories behind a rapidly changing Arctic, in Alaska.
