Carbon management and the ‘greening’ of conservation organisations in Cambridge

After an early career as a research ecologist studying farmland wildlife populations in the UK, I developed and directed a programme of multidisciplinary conservation projects in over 100 countries for an international conservation organisation (ICBP). In 1996 I was appointed Chief Executive of the global conservation partnership, BirdLife International, before joining CCI as its first Director in 2009.
I am broadly interested in interdisciplinary approaches to managing the natural environment. This includes: the interface between science, policy and practice; environmental governance and capacity development; the relationships between business and biodiversity; and developing innovative solutions for the conservation of nature. I was the Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, based in the University of Cambridge Judge Business School from 2009 – 2020.

My PhD and my first post-doc were in primate behaviour, and my interest in conservation stems from my second post-doc in the Zoology Department, where I modelled factors that influence whether the use of wild animals and plants in Asia is sustainable. In parallel with my research, I have always been passionate about science communication and I worked as an independent consultant for WWF on their Living Planet Report in 2010 and in 2012, helping to turn their biannual flagship publication into compelling and engaging reports about on the state of biodiversity and how our consumption and our ‘footprint’ affects the natural world. These were released in over 80 countries and have been translated into 14 different languages, reaching a larger audience than ever before.

Towards the end of 2010 I became one of two Programme Managers of the CCI Shared Challenges Programme, catalysing and coordinating collaborative projects between CCI partner organisations and the departments within the University of Cambridge. In June 2012, I became the CCI Programmes Coordinator. In March 2013 I moved to the Cambridge Forum for Sustainability and the Environment, as the Forum’s Executive Secretary.

Pamela is Director of Programmes at the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre with responsibility for the strategic oversight of the Centre’s portfolio of conservation projects. Prior to this as Natural England’s Area Manager for Norfolk and Suffolk, she managed a team delivering marine and terrestrial biodiversity conservation advice with responsibility for the management of 15 National Nature Reserves and the implementation of the England Coast Path. She was Chair of Cambridge Conservation Forum from 2009 to 2013, founding the CCF Women in Leadership Network in 2013 with the aim of addressing the gender disparity in the leadership of conservation and provide support for women in and aspiring to move into leadership roles . Whilst Head Gardener at New Hall (Murray Edwards College) in the late 1980s, Pamela introduced gardening for wildlife and taught ecology courses in the University of Cambridge Botanic Garden. Pamela teaches creative stakeholder engagement on the University of Cambridge MPhil in Conservation Leadership.

I am currently a NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2009-2013) based at the Zoology Department of the University of Cambridge, as well as a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University and visiting researcher at the Goeldi Museum in Belém, and Federal University of Lavras, both in Brazil.

I am interested in the ways in which science and the scientific process can contribute to solving real-world social-environmental problems. My current work is focused on evaluating conservation-development trade-offs in different land-use systems in Brazilian Amazonia. We are sampling spatial patterns of biodiversity (terrestrial and aquatic), above and below-ground carbon, soil fertility and the economic and social benefits of agricultural and forestry activities across multiple watersheds that are characterized by different land-uses. The long-term goals of the project are to employ these data to evaluate opportunities for more sustainable development strategies in managed tropical forest landscapes, including both regulation and market based conservation strategies.

I am a political ecologist with diverse interests regarding biodiversity conservation and its relationship with society. My current research activities can be divided into three themes: (i) investigating the relationship between conservation and development at the landscape scale in developing countries, (ii) investigating the role of values and evidence in shaping the decisions of conservationists and their organisations, and (iii) investigating the social and political implications of new technologies for conservation. I am strongly committed to building capacity in conservation, and I am the Director of the Cambridge Masters in Conservation Leadership and the Conservation Research Institute.

Roger was Chair of the Cambridge Conservation Forum until 2022, a network of 70 conservation organisations based in and around Cambridge. He is also a Director of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, a Director of ARC Ecological Services Ltd., Vice-Chair of the Fens Biosphere Steering Group, an Executive Board Member of Natural Cambridgeshire and is presently working with a range of partners on Conservation initiatives within Cambridgeshire.

Most of his working life has been in Government and the Government Agencies as Principle Scientist in the Department of the Environment’s Central Water Planning Unit, Head of Marine Science in the Nature Conservancy Council and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and National Manager of Species and Biodiversity in English Nature. Since then, he has been Chief Editor of Aquatic Conservation, Joint Chief Editor of Conservation Evidence, International Chief Scientist at the Earthwatch Institute, Executive Chairman of Natura International, a Trustee/Director of the European Climate Foundation, a Director of HSBC Cares for the Environment Fund (Malta), Environmental Director of the Arcadia Fund and Chairman of the Management Board of the Corrour Estate.