Our Board of Trustees

Richard is retired after a career of over 40 years in the the conservation and environmental sector. He is  a freshwater ecologist by training, graduating from UWIST, Cardiff. He joined the Welsh Water Authority and went on to become their first conservation officer, before moving to posts in the National Rivers Authority and Environment Agency, where he was responsible for regulatory strategy. He has extensive experience of environmental policy and advocacy, and has been involved with the Welsh Wildlife Trusts in both a professional and private capacity over many years. Richard is a Chartered Environmentalist, and a member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management’s Wales Policy Group. 

After leaving Cardiff, Richard has lived in West, South and North Wales, before settling in Mitchel Troy Common with his wife and family. Since retiring, he has enjoyed returning to the practical side of conservation, volunteering with GWT and working on several reserves.

Richard has always had a passionate interest in wildlife and conservation, though admits that he is now a bit rusty at identifying plants and invertebrates down to species level! He enjoys walking, Mountain biking and paragliding over the Gwent countryside (and beyond). 

Tim recently retired as a Senior Partner at one the UK’s largest Consulting Engineers following a career spanning 40 years. A Chartered Engineer Tim is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. A Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers and a Freeman of the City of London he is entitled to take his sheep across London Bridge - if he had any!
Having had a long interest in Sustainability Tim has been involved in the design of some of the UK’s most sustainable and low carbon buildings including the tallest timber building in London.
Tim has a keen interest in the outdoors from his time in Cubs, Scouts and Venture Scouts, with hill walking being a particular passion he is acutely aware of the need for us to conserve and protect the wonderful places we are so fortunate to have.
Since joining GWT Tim has become a citizen scientist with the CaSTCo Project and regularly tests a tributary to the River Usk.
Inspired by the fantastic GWT Reserves Tim is re-wilding a large garden and learning lots of ways of how not to do things! A member of Gwent Bee Keeping Tim is an enthusiastic albeit novice Bee Keeper.
Tim is Governor of Coleg Gwent.

Sue has been interested in all aspects of the natural world since childhood. She spent her 38 year career teaching in primary, secondary, and special needs settings, developing children’s curiosity in their natural surroundings. This did not always go smoothly. Rescuing escaped snails from a classroom ceiling was an interesting challenge!  In 1989, Sue moved to work with the Educational Psychology Service which included running In-Service training for teachers. During the latter part of her career, she worked in nurseries and reception classes, researching the problems of poor language skills and implementing language enrichment programmes.

Since retiring, Sue has travelled around the world with husband, Roger. She remains an enthusiastic bird watcher and monitors a bird box round on the Wyeswood reserve. Sue also enjoys baking and provides cake for Trust committee meetings.

Growing up on the Gower peninsula Dai has always had an interest in wildlife and the environment. Since leaving school at 17 Dai has always worked or volunteered in conservation/ wildlife management in Wales, England and Scotland. Currently Dai works as a Specialist Advisor for Environment and Recreation for NRW’s renewable energy delivery team. Previously he’s worked for Butterfly Conservation as their Head of Conservation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and prior to that he worked for Forestry Commission Wales as Head Wildlife Ranger, Area Manager in the Wye Valley and for NRW in their Southwest region as Land Management Team Leader, leading a team responsible for the day-day management of 32,000 hectares of forest & woodland habitats across Mid and West Wales.

He maintains a keen interest in woodland and forest management, particularly raptors associated with these habitats and continues to improve his knowledge of moths, butterflies and their habitats. He has recently been appointed as a member of Sparsholt Colleges Curriculum, Skills & Stakeholders Committee. In his spare time he likes to go surfing and kayaking with his family around the Gower and West Wales coasts.

Lucy is a passionate environmental scientist, currently working at Defra on Biodiversity Net Gain. Lucy is experienced in policy development, applying science and analytical thinking to domestic and international land use, climate, and biodiversity issues. 

Lucy holds an MRes in Conservation Science and conducted her research in Southeast Asia. Lucy has published her research, presented the findings at global conferences, and the work has been featured on the BBC Sounds podcast ‘People Fixing the World’. Lucy has contributed a chapter in a public health book which promotes the benefits of nature for child development. 

Lucy has been involved with Gwent Wildlife Trust in a personal and professional capacity for several years. Lucy also sits on the TWT Community of Practice group for Youth Boards and Early Career Trustees.

Mary has had a career spanning the public and private sector. She has a degree in horticultural science and a PhD in plant pathology. Following a period of research she worked for 14 years with the Research Councils coordinating environmental research in the UK through the Environmental Research Funders’ Forum and the Living With Environmental Change Partnership.

In 2014 she became a Forestry Commissioner for England and Scotland, has sat on the expert Committee on Forest Science and Forest Research Board. With a passion for the environment, she has previously been a Trustee for the Earth Trust in Oxfordshire and is a Trustee for the Sylva Foundation. Now retired and living in Abergavenny, Mary has been doing an eco-renovation of her house as well as getting involved as a member of Monmouthshire Meadows and the Gwent Fungus Group. A keen gardener, she has built a large wildlife pond and her wildflower meadow is a work in progress.

Juliet has a background in advertising and marketing as well as the Third Sector. She began her career working within creative agencies developing TV, print and radio strategy and campaigns for brands such as McCain and Wall’s, Three Mobile and The Discovery Channel, and has worked in-house with website development, social media content, PR and influencers. She topped and tailed her commercial work with stints at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Comic Relief’s volunteering spin off, TimeBank. 

Moving to South Wales with her growing family, Juliet took on the family farm. As an organic farmer, she rears native-breed cattle within a wholly outdoor and grass-fed rotational grazing system. The farm encompasses woodland and wetland habitats, as well as traditionally managed haymeadows and unimproved pasture. A walk around their family farm often demands admiring dung beetles in poo piles, wildflowers and grasses as well as, probably her greatest love of all, fungi. Working with and within nature is a source of continual learning for her as well as demanding adaptability and embracing tacit, observational knowledge.

Mavis is a civil servant with over a decade's experience working for the UK Government at a range of different departments, working in a variety of policy, finance and governance roles. She is passionate about nature and is currently studying for an MSc in Sustainability at Cranfield University alongside her work. She is particularly interested in regenerative agricultural practices around the world; systems thinking; and foraging. She also holds a permaculture design certificate. When not busy working or studying, Mavis is learning Japanese and volunteers with Stump Up for Trees planting native trees in the Bannau Brycheiniog Park. She lives in Abergavenny.

Tom has over 20 years experience working for a leading professional services Firm, focussing on risk management, controls and technology transformation. Tom has worked across all sectors both in the UK and globally, and has built and led many successful new business ventures over the years with the Firm. His current role leads him into really interesting discussions and work with organisations about risks that they face in this new digital era, as well as the opportunities they have to use technology to be more effective, efficient and successful. 

Having grown up in the welsh borders, Tom spent a number of years living in London before moving back home to the Wye Valley. Around his work commitments, he spends his spare time learning about conservation matters, the natural world, and enjoys juggling the demands of caring for his garden as well as a young family.

Bio coming soon