Skip to main content

Scientists with muddy boots

The research team

Dr Cat Scott

Scientific lead

Cat is a NERC Independent Research Fellow and University Academic Fellow in the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, part of the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. She studies the way that particles are formed in the atmosphere from gases emitted by trees (biogenic volatile organic compounds; BVOCs), and how these particles go on to affect the climate.

Cat is Director of the Leeds Ecosystem, Atmosphere and Forest (LEAF) centre at the University of Leeds. Her academic role helps to ensure integration between UBoC’s work and the latest research at the University of Leeds. In particular, Cat leads on the Leeds4Trees project, a partnership between UBoC, LEAF and Leeds City Council.

Dr Thomas Sloan

Forest Science and Policy Fellow

Thomas' background is in studying how land use management affects carbon storage. He is interested in using interdisciplinary paleoecological approaches to address current conservation questions. His PhD in Environmental Geography was awarded by the University of York in 2021. Thomas provides scientific support to UBoC projects as Forest Science and Policy Fellow.
Person with shoulder length light brown hair wearing a wool coat and jumper

Dr Robin Hayward

Communications and Engagement Officer

Robin communicates UBoC's research with a wide range of audiences through live and virtual presentations, as well as managing UBoC's social media accounts to encourage public engagement with the natural environment. Robin previously completed their PhD in ecology, researching the potential for active restoration to accelerate tree community recovery after logging in rainforests.

Professor Dominick Spracklen

Scientific lead

Dom is Professor of Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. He leads a research group whose focus is on interactions between the biosphere, atmosphere and climate, and understanding how these interactions are being altered by human activity.

Dom’s role in UBoC is to lead on our ecological restoration work, including the Hardknott Forest Restoration project and Wild Ingleborough.

Robyn Wrigley

Research Assistant

Robyn is a research assistant in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. She has an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation and previous experience working in practical land management.

Her current work is focused on environmental monitoring of nature recovery projects in the English uplands, namely the Wild Ingleborough and Snaizeholme projects. This work involves carrying out a variety of surveys in the field, along with analysing data to improve understanding and to feed back to the project teams with findings.

George Porton

George Porton

Research Assistant

George works as a research assistant with UBoC and helps carry out the research and monitoring for the Wild Ingleborough project. This work focuses on understanding how ecological restoration affects biodiversity and ecosystem services in the UK uplands.

George completed an undergraduate degree in Zoology at the University of Aberdeen and has previously been involved with population ecology research on water voles, red squirrels and tawny owls.

Trees graphic

The UBoC Trustees

Jonathan Wild LL.D DL

Jonathan is the former Chair and Managing Director of Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate and author of the Five Flamingos series of children’s stories. Jonathan has been a persistent campaigner for conservation of the natural environment around the world for over 30 years. He led his company’s Trees for Life campaign, which has funded the planting of millions of trees around the world, principally in the tropics. Bettys & Taylors was one of the first ten companies to win a Queen’s Award for Industry for Sustainable Development.

“If the currency of climate change is carbon, biodiversity is its casualty. Through research and investment in practical collaborative solutions, our team of scientists at UBoC seeks to demonstrate how – on both a local and global scale – a healthy natural environment is a carbon-rich planet and people protector. I call them ‘scientists with muddy boots’. They are inspirational, and they have impact: I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Jenny Harrison

Jenny has been involved with UBOC since its infancy, supporting its initial strategy and business case while on secondment to the charity from the Sustainability practice of Deloitte.  Jenny is the Chief Financial Officer at enfinium, a leading UK waste to energy player with a major hub in Yorkshire, with clear and ambitious plans for decarbonisation of its operations while dealing with non-recyclable waste for the communities it serves.   Jenny is a chartered accountant, previously Finance Director of UK Power Networks and Director of External Reporting at BT Group following a career in professional services with three of the ‘Big 4’.  She has always had a particular interest in renewable energy and sustainability, working in the UK and overseas.

“I have enjoyed seeing UBoC’s evolution over the past decade, from an organisation focused on encouraging big business to recognise and prevent deforestation, to our current strategy of building partnerships to encourage biodiversity and restore woodland in an active and practical way, always with a lens of scientific research and impactful collaboration and action on the ground.”

Sheila Huntridge

Sheila has a background in mainly financial roles in banking, pharmaceuticals, leisure and most recently with the Bettys and Taylors Group. Sheila joined the UBoC Board of Trustees following her retirement from Bettys in 2019.

“Being a Trustee for UBoC has given me the opportunity to support and experience the fantastic work that the UBoC Team and School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds undertake to help protect our natural environment and ecosystems.”

Professor Piers Forster

After studying physics at Imperial College, Piers began researching climate change for his doctorate at the University of Reading in 1990. He is currently Professor of Physical Climate Change in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, and Director of the Priestley International Centre for Climate Change. Piers was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Merit award 2011-2016, he is also a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

As well as his research, Piers has a number of advisory roles for industry and government, including the UK Committee on Climate Change, and as lead author of the IPCC reports. This breadth of experience helps to inform the work of UBoC.