The CCI team

Melissa Leach is the Executive Director of CCI and also Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge. She is an academic and policy leader with extensive international experience, combining thirty years of ethnographic work in West Africa with engagements and networks across Africa, South Asia, China and beyond. She has led national and international policy-engaged programmes and consortia across the fields of global health, environment and sustainability, food systems, and social and gender equity.

With a background in anthropology and geography, Melissa has worked extensively with natural scientists and practitioners on forests, soils and biodiversity, with particular commitments to bringing local communities’ knowledge and perspectives into science-policy processes and practical conservation approaches. Prior to joining CCI, Melissa spent a decade as Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), helping it to become the world’s leading institute for research, teaching and policy engagement in global development.

Melissa also co-founded and co-directed the Economic and Social Research Council’s STEPS Research Centre and global consortium, is a Fellow of the British Academy and has won several awards, including a Queen’s Birthday Honours CBE in 2017 for services to social science. Her international roles including co-lead of the International Science Council’s Fellows network; leadership of UN reports and founder member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).

As CCI’s Collaborations and Engagement Manager, Elizabeth works to catalyse collaborations across the initiative’s partnership, and beyond. Prior to joining CCI, Elizabeth worked at Fauna & Flora International, one of CCI’s founding partners. Her role at FFI included supporting the organisation’s capacity development, chiefly through the management of FFI’s intranet, and working on FFI’s journal, Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation.

Elizabeth particularly enjoys exploring ways of communicating messages about conservation to diverse stakeholders and audiences, and has pursued an interest in the natural world and conservation since an early age. Elizabeth has a BSc in Zoology from the University of Bristol, and an MSc in Conservation from University College London; in both degrees her dissertations focussed on the ecology and conservation of bats.

As CCI’s Head of Strategy and Special Programmes, Leonie leads on key actions related to CCI 2021 – 2030 strategy implementation and manages significant collaborative programme activities.

Prior to joining CCI, Leonie worked as an Associate Lecturer in Responsible Tourism at UQ Business School and as an independent auditor for Ecotourism Australia. She has been a technical advisor and project manager for various Australian and international projects – advising protected area management agencies, the Government of Vanuatu and as an external collaborator of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Leonie is a Director of Wildlife Wonders, a social enterprise on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia. She is focused on inspiring positive environmental behaviour change through education and communication projects, as well as providing capacity building for sustainable development.

Isabelle is responsible for designing and implementing a strategy to secure philanthropic support for CCI in partnership with the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining CCI, she spent ten years in advertising agencies, working with major corporations and non-profits.

Dedicated to the issues of sustainability, Isabelle then led the communications for a start-up before completing Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s Business Sustainability Management programme.

Growing up in Cambridge but half Canadian, Isabelle been lucky to spend time enjoying the incredible landscapes of British Columbia whilst cherishing the rich fenlands closer to home.

Emma is a communications specialist with over 18 years of experience across non-profit communications, philanthropy, and feminist movements. She is passionate about the power of communications, community, and collaboration to drive positive social change, particularly in the conservation sector. She has led impactful initiatives across the UK and globally, crafting compelling content, developing integrated communications strategies, and amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities.

Emma is a lifelong bird and nature enthusiast and champion of biodiversity, as well as the owner of a sustainable flower-growing and floristry business. Emma has a BA in English from Loughborough University and an MA in International Development from the University of East Anglia.

Nawang is the Programme Administrator in the Executive Director’s Office at the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI). Before joining CCI, she worked as a Project Coordinator in the Convening team at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), where she supported impactful initiatives such as the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) and the UK Corporate Leaders Group (CLG UK).

Nawang holds a PhD in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. She is passionate about conservation and biodiversity and is excited to be transitioning her career into this field, where she looks forward to making a meaningful impact.

Andy has worked in conservation for 45 years, in both the Government and NGO sectors. His passion is for evidence-led decisions that contribute to nature’s recovery. Andy has led programmes on Protected Areas and species conservation, and he led the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). As Cambridge Conservation Initiative came into being, Andy became its inaugural Chair of Council. He now works on a major donor development in the Executive Director’s Office.

Andy is a birder, visiting over 50 countries in search of birds, with his data contributing to online BirdTrack (in the UK) and eBird worldwide. Andy is also a sculler.

Lindsey brings a background in biology and tropical forestry to her role, and over 15 years of professional experience in social science and conservation in the UK and internationally. She is skilled at connecting with a broad range of stakeholders and adept at hearing and representing multiple perspectives to help ensure processes are more inclusive.

Lindsey’s PhD bridged collaborative theory and conservation in research and practice to explore ways to enable collaboration in conservation. The emergent study used an action research approach within CCI and the Biodiversity Revisited Initiative to make novel contributions relating to change, diversity and funding.

Jack is the Collaborations and Events Coordinator for the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme. Jack’s events career began whilst working and travelling in New Zealand in 2018-19 which also sparked an interest in nature and conservation. Back in the UK he has since organised a wide range of in-person and virtual events in the arts and heritage sector, helping foster partnerships and increase digital capacity in organisations nationwide. In his spare time Jack likes to go on long hikes in the UK and abroad, swim, and fail to win tennis matches.

As Executive Assistant, Caroline works to support the Executive Director with scheduling, planning and delivery of their role. She also supports the wider Executive Director’s Office (EDO) team while handling the general day-to-day running of the EDO.  Prior to joining CCI in February 2023, Caroline had taken an extended career break to be a stay-at-home parent to her two children.

Before children, Caroline worked as a corporate executive assistant for 13 years in an array of sectors across central London ranging from an aristocratic interior designer, to a management consultancy, and a property investment fund management company.

Despite Caroline’s non-conservation background, she has always been interested in the natural world, particularly birds, and loves nothing better than long walks in and around the bird reserves of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk in her spare time.

Liz is Artist Residencies Coordinator for the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, a collaboration with the Arts, Science and Conservation Programme at Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Prior to joining Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, Liz worked at Kettle’s Yard, the University of Cambridge’s modern and contemporary art gallery as Assistant Curator, Community Programme.

Liz is interested in supporting artists to develop ambitious site-specific artworks and innovative opportunities for meaningful community engagement with high quality contemporary art. In particular, collaborative projects with arts and science organisations which explore the role that artists can play in responding to current climate challenges.

Since studying Fine Art at University of the West of England, Bristol, Liz has continued her art practice and has produced a range of installations, exhibitions, residencies, and events.

John supports the Arts, Science, and Conservation programme at CCI.  After studying law, his early career included time as an intern at UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya, research assistant on the Serengeti Lion Project in northern Tanzania, and as Africa Programme Officer for BirdLife International (then the International Council for Bird Preservation).

From 1989 to 1994, John was a member of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford, and completed a doctorate on coastal forest bird communities in Kenya. Since then, he has worked on development programmes, as Head of Policy and Advocacy, and currently works as a writer focusing on birds, culture and society, as well as place-based story-telling, for BirdLife.

With Terry Stevenson, he is also co-author of a Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa, and collaborated with Mark Cocker to publish the complete works of JA Baker, celebrated author of The Peregrine and Hill of Summer.  John has an MA in Contemporary Arts Practice focusing on Art and Environment from University College Falmouth, and a strong interest in arts-science collaborations.