Our people

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas represented Meirionnydd later Nant Conwy then Dwyfor Meirionnydd as Member of Parliament (MP) then Senedd Member (SM) including membership of legislative and scrutiny committees specialising in environmental, educational and constitutional policy. He was chair of the first statutory Welsh Language Board and Presiding Officer of the Senedd before joining Welsh Government as a Minister for Culture Sport and Tourism. A graduate, postgraduate and lecturer at Bangor he served as President and Chancellor of the University. As Chair of Screen Wales he also served as a board member of the British Film Institute. He was made a life peer in 1992. He has always lived in and around Eryri Snowdonia.

Geoff first joined the Trust in the 1970s, and when he retired from the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in 1997 his voluntary contributions to the Trust notched up a level.  His influence has been pivotal to the Trust’s development, which grew from his initial active involvement in the Trust’s Anglesey Branch, then through advisory committees (Conservation, Finance, Property and Estates) and to the Trust’s Council. He served as Vice-Chairman in 2005, swiftly followed by election to Chair which he held until 2010.  As Chair, he was highly respected and central in the Trust’s co-operation on collective and strategic work, through the UK Wildlife Trust movement and Wildlife Trusts Wales.  Geoff was Chairman of the Anglesey Branch for over 20 years, and today still supports the staff reporting process to funders, and our digital mapping.  He is an active practical nature reserve volunteer and most weeks will be seen grafting to conserve wildflower grassland through scrub and bracken clearance, plant trees, and carry out beach cleans.   

Born and bred in Flintshire, Goronwy graduated from Bangor University in Agriculture and Botany, taught Biology at his old school in Holywell and then became Principal Lecturer in Biology at the North East Wales Institute, Wrexham. He is a Fellow of Bangor University and of the Linnean Society of London; and was the Botanical Society of the British Isles recorder for Flintshire for 40 years. This is where he has contributed so fully to the work of NWWT. In 1993 he published his major work Flora of Flintshire for which he was awarded a PhD His interest in natural history and ecology remains as strong as ever.

As well as maintaining a strong interest in wildlife Pippa was an ardent fundraiser for NWWT for 20 years until 2015. In this time, due to her leadership, the Trust was one of few environmental charities running dedicated sales outlets based exclusively on voluntary effort, and none derived such a high proportion of its unrestricted income from a trading subsidiary.  In the time she was active, Pippa and the sales team raised over £250,000 for the Trust.

Pippa’s forthright and supportive character with commitment to the tasks she undertook, gave a quality and level of service of the highest order.   She was a Trustee for 7 years, from 1995 a Director of NWWT Trading for 20 years, and was also a long-standing member of the Trust’s Anglesey Branch Committee.  Her outstanding contribution to voluntary service rewarded her with a national honour as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2012.

Pippa continues as a supporter of the Trust, now living close to her family in Gloucestershire.

I have a passion for the environment and have championed the North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT) for over thirty years.  I have governance experience gained through roles in charity management and as a board member of Natural Resources Wales (NRW).  I am an experienced chairman, Company Secretary, and an accredited mediator and coach.  I have been the Chief Executive of an environmental charity for ten years.  I have a degree in biology, a passionate interest in people and place, and actively promote collaboration.   I am a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society for arts, manufactures and commerce (RSA), and an Honorary Vice President of the NWWT.

I am passionate about the natural world and conservation, with a background in Zoology and conservation work in Belize. My financial skills and experience - from commercial and strategic work to compliance, governance and best practice with over seven years’ Board experience in an executive role - I believe make me well suited to this role and helping to drive the charity forward whilst preserving its ethos and acting as custodians for its future. I strongly believe that engaging communities at local levels can preserve a diverse range of habitats and offer the greatest return on investment.

As an academic geographer, I have over a decade of teaching and research experience exploring the interconnections between landscapes, people, and natural environments. My research, teaching and personal interests seek to empower people to promote environmental justice. I am particularly interested in issues around accessibility and inclusivity to nature and the role digital technologies can have in connecting the public to environmental issues.

I come from a Bangor family (little known facts – my great-great-grandparents organised the Welsh emigration to Patagonia in 1865, and my grandfather stood, unsuccessfully, for Parliament in 1929 in Caernarfon Boroughs, against Lloyd George).

I am purpose driven with a long track record in property and finance. I set up the UK’s first real estate B Corporation and the world’s first responsible real estate fund.

My academic background is in ecology and land economy. I have been a donor to the Bryn Ifan project and help look after a young broadleaf woodland in Cwm Pennant, in Eryri National Park, which I hope will become part of the National Forest for Wales.

I have sat on the boards of a number of charities and businesses. I also advise the board of Nationwide Building Society on climate change. I bring an understanding of using new forms of Nature Finance, blending different sources of funds, to amplify the Trust's ability to help nature recovery in pursuit of our 30 by 30 goals.

I have a lifelong interest in nature and the environment, with a broad range of experience which I use to support the Trust.    I have academic experience in pharmaceuticals and mammal biology, and spent my working life mainly as an advisor in Citizens Advice Bureau.   With my late husband, an academic specialising in underwater acoustics we ran training for people (working in the military, oil & gas and environment) in underwater acoustics and the impact of industrial noise on the marine environment. I am especially keen to ensure marine developments that may take place off the North Wales coast are not detrimental to wildlife. 

I am a Welsh Speaker and live in Tremeirchion, Denbighshire looking across the Vale to the Trust’s Y Graig Nature Reserve. I retired in 2017 as Denbighshire County Council’s Community Engagement Manager with responsibility for the Council’s relationship with the Third Sector and Lead Officer for developing key corporate policies including the Council’s Equalities Policy and Welsh Language Scheme.

I have been a local magistrate for over 27 years, am a school governor, an Independent Member of Flintshire County Council’s Standards Committee and a trustee of Denbigh Museum.

I have a deep affection for the countryside and its species and strongly believe we all have a role to play, however large or small in protecting and nurturing our natural habitat whether it is our hinterland, our rivers or our marine environment.

I hope my experience in community engagement and empowerment can assist the Trust as it develops its relationship with its growing membership and partnering local community projects.

Being a North Wales Wildlife Trust Trustee allows me to continue to share my skills, knowledge and experience for the benefit of my local community and environment.

Nature conservation and scientific research have been the focus of my career in academia and government agencies. As a trustee I bring a keen understanding of operational issues and working across the science-policy interface.

My governance experience developed on a range of non-executive boards and charities, including setting strategic direction, and as a senior manager of technical specialists working on the current challenges facing marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats and species.

I am passionate about nature reserves, habitat restoration and natural heritage which mould and define our landscapes in Wales. Engaging minds and winning hearts are a fundamental part of my approach to addressing the critical issues of biodiversity loss and climate change.

Since moving to North Wales from the Isle of Wight over 10 years ago, I have been actively helping the Trust, firstly as Treasurer for nine years during a period of rapid evolution and, since stepping down from that role last year, I remain as Company Secretary for the Group. My wife, Barbara, and I took on the challenge of a nine acre smallholding overlooking Penrhyndeudraeth when we moved here and, with help and advice from the Trust, we've worked hard on making the meadows, hedges and copses more wildlife-friendly. The results so far have been really encouraging in terms of both variety and volume of plants and wildlife.

I am a North Walian with a passion for nature conservation and am proud to serve as a NWWT Trustee. With over 25 years of corporate and charity experience, I have developed skills in a number of areas that I hope can contribute to the mission such as strategic planning design and delivery and partnership development. It is a pleasure working with such a great team as we aim to deliver our ambitious new 2030 Strategy.

My background is in island biodiversity and hands-on endangered species monitoring, conservation, research and education. I worked internationally for over 10 years on island nature reserves and in remote field camps overseeing projects as an independent consultant and for the World Bank. Now I am more focused on marine conservation as owner and director of the Anglesey Sea Zoo.  As a trustee I can use my experience to support the Trust, particularly in its work to protect the seas round North Wales, and enable others to share my passion for spending active time outdoors, especially in hands-on wildlife activities such as bird ringing.

In 2018, I retired from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Bangor where, as a Group Leader, I was part of the Science Management Team. I am a specialist in the effects of air pollution and climate change on vegetation, and have worked at the science-policy interface from national to global scales, including for the United Nations Air Pollution Convention. Since 2019, I have contributed to NWWT by chairing the Marine Advisory Group and more recently the Marine Ecosystems Governance Committee (Môr). As a trustee, I also provide expertise to the Board in environmental science, management and policy development.

I am a qualified marine scientist and bilingual North Wales Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager with over four years experience in the charity sector – including two and a half years in policy research, project management and community engagement at the Marine Conservation Society, and over 1 year’s experience as a Trustee at Wales Environment Link. A passionate supporter of North Wales Wildlife Trust and its commitment to bringing people closer to nature, I hope to further contribute to safeguarding the Trust’s future through providing fresh insight and perspective as a young person with a sound understanding of good governance, the Welsh conservation landscape and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

I learnt to love nature as a country child, although I went into medicine as a career. Buying a farm when I moved to Wales in 1989 was an opportunity to farm with and encourage wildlife alongside working as a GP and raising a family.

Having retired, I should like to put the organizational and campaigning skills I acquired from my work into helping nature at this critical time for many of our endangered species. Although I can do this at a very local level on my own farm, I should like to be able to influence others on a wider scale by contributing to the work of the NWWT.