Meet the 2019 BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards Judges
Helen Denham
Sustainability Manager - Sir Robert McAlpine
Helen is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) with over 35 years’ combined practical wildlife conservation management, technical sustainability and environmental management experience in the United Kingdom and international countries including the Bahamas and Guyana. Currently, at a 300£million retail, hotel and residential project in Woking, and Sir Robert McAlpine Biodiversity Champion advising projects on wildlife related issues from legal compliance, ecological mitigation, biodiversity enhancement benefits and ecosystem services.
Experience of working in the Forestry Commission, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and for clients from government organisations, Natural England, international funding agencies such as Inter-American Development Bank, non-government organisations (NGOs), stakeholders and community groups in this and preceding employment.
Louise Clarke
Head of Sustainable Places – Berkeley Group
Louise is Head of Sustainable Places at the Berkeley Group and is responsible for setting and implementing the group’s strategy to create sustainable places. This includes focusing on key commitments for the business on climate change adaptation, social sustainability and sustainable procurement. Louise has specialised in sustainability throughout her career and has a keen interest in placemaking which stemmed from her masters in Urban Design.
Louise is a Non-Executive Director of Construction Industry Council (CIC), sits on the Green Construction Board and chairs the CIC 2050 Group, a group of young professionals within the construction industry.
Nick White
Senior Advisor Net Gain & Green Infrastructure - Natural England
Nick leads Natural England’s work developing and securing environmental ‘net gain’ outcomes from development (both biodiversity and natural capital). Nick works closely with developers, local authorities and across Government supporting the adoption and mainstreaming of net gain. A graduate of the University’s of Manchester (BA Hons) and Leeds (MA and PhD) Nick joined Natural England in 2008. Previously Nick worked as a manager in the National Health Service in Lancashire, was the Historical Advisor for the Imperial War Museum-North, ran a charity in London and coordinated the London Biodiversity Partnership.
Jasmin Barwig
Aecom - Associate Director
Jasmin is an Associate Director at AECOM. She is an experienced ecologist with particular knowledge of protected species issues in the context of development. She has been the technical lead on a variety of large scale and small scale infrastructure and development projects. Her technical specialisms include, Environmental Impact Assessment and field skills in botanical and protected species surveys. Jasmin’s technical ecological work relates to development proposals, from initial feasibility studies, through Environmental Impact Assessment, to coordinating ecological survey work and developing sustainable mitigation measures for protected species.
Jo Ferguson
Bat Conservation Trust - Built Environment Manager
Jo has worked for the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) for the last 4 years as the Built Environment Officer before becoming the Built Environment Manager in early 2019. Prior to starting at BCT she had been involved with bat conservation in a voluntary and professional capacity for over 10 years. Jo’s more recent professional experience is as an ecological consultant specialising in urban bat ecology; providing surveys, mitigation and enhancement advice covering a range of development projects, including residential, commercial and transport. She also has extensive experience in scientific research, working for the Australian Research centre for Urban Ecology and Earthwatch in Melbourne. Jo is a Full Member of CIEEM, a Volunteer Bat Roost Visitor and London Bat Group Member.
Peter Dorans
Corporate Relations Manager - The Wildlife Trusts
Pete has been with the Wildlife Trusts for almost nine years and has been managing our interface with businesses since November 2009. He loves developing relationships with businesses, finding out where our interests overlap and building the partnerships to deliver on shared objectives. Before The Wildlife Trusts, his career took him from frontline Citizens Advice to policy work in Westminster to community engagement at the New Zealand Environment Ministry. He is a certified Member of the Institute of Fundraising.
Outside work Pete spends most of his time as dad to his three year old twin girls Violet and Rose. He is a keen allotment gardener, variably skilled DIY enthusiast, walker and cyclist. In the past a keen traveller, he daydreams of epic global adventures to be undertaken in his long distant retirement.
Sam Bower
Ecology & Arboriculture Lead Technical Specialist - Balfour Beatty
Sam has been working in the nature conservation sector for the last 18 years. Initially specialising in practical woodland management, conservation arboriculture and habitat management he moved into consultancy in 2012. Sam has been with Balfour Beatty since 2013 providing ecological and arboricultural support on numerous large scale infrastructure projects. In 2018, Sam was the recipient of the CLA Trophy for outstanding service to Forestry and Land Management in Kent.
Dr Martina Girvan
Technical Director - Arcadis
Martina is a Technical Director of Ecology and Arboriculture with Arcadis. She has a background in terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem function and joined consultancy following a career in academia, with a short time spent in local government as the Greater Manchester BAP officer. In addition to managing a team of ecologists and the arboricultural business at Arcadis she undertakes major impact assessments for a wide range of national and international developments. She is a Chartership assessor with CIEEM (the ecology disciplines professional body) and regularly contributes to best practice guidance. The integration of biodiversity and society is a lifelong passion, she is currently developing the Arcadis natural capital approach in the UK.
Morgan Taylor
Associate and Lead Ecologist – Greengage Environmental
Morgan heads up the ecology team at Greengage, working across sectors on a wide variety of development schemes throughout the planning process. A finalist for the BIG Biodiversity Champion award in 2018, he specialises in urban biodiversity and green infrastructure (GI). His particular focus is on living roofs having spearheaded several novel GI ecological monitoring projects in recent years. He has written a number of innovative corporate biodiversity strategies which embed Biodiversity Net Gain, GI and ecosystem service gains at their core. Alongside his project work, he frequently contributes to industry best practice, runs training sessions and speaks at events on the topic of urban biodiversity.
Rosie Whicheloe
Principal Landscape Ecologist – London Wildlife Trust
Rosie’s has over ten years’ experience working in landscape planning green infrastructure design and ecological assessment. She provides strategic ecological advice to design teams to ensure new development maximises their value to wildlife and people – the vision: to create a London a live with Nature. Current projects include working with Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation, Redrow Homes and Berkeley Homes.
Clare Hector
Director, Artecology
Claire is a director at environmental consultancy Arc and biodiversity designers, Artecology and not-for-profit The Common Space, working to the group’s Shaping Better Places standard. She has 10 years’ community engagement experience, connecting people to their local environment, working with developers, businesses, and local communities. She runs community nature project Wild About Wight, award-winning NEETs conservation volunteer group, Green Army and co-ordinates the Discovery Bay programme of natural science events. All her work involves helping people to make practical wins for everyday wildlife and she’s part of a cross-discipline team working from urban greenspace enhancements in social housing estates, innovating habitat creation from living seawalls, aka Vertipools to new bio-receptive cladding, and working with developers to build-in nature from the outset.
Hannah Bilston
Associate Ecologist – WSP
Hannah has been an ecological consultant for over 12 years and is currently an Associate Ecologist at WSP. She specialises in protected species and in particular bats. Hannah has particular interests in how provisions for wildlife can be designed into new developments. Wildlife installations she has been involved with range from green roofs with water features in very urban environments to bat barns, ponds and meadow creation in more rural locations.
Peter Johnson
Peter is a recently retired experienced industry professional with a background in both construction and sustainability. Before retiring he was Head of Environment at Kier Group, a leading UK construction, services and property group. Peter continues to share his sustainability knowledge with others in the industry as a Considerate Constructor Scheme Monitor. Passionate about biodiversity, he has championed the BIG Biodiversity Challenge since its launch in October 2013.
Phil Askew
Peabody Trust
Caroline Ford
Atkins