Our team
Based the length and breadth of Britain, our small team works with a unified passion for rewilding and the solutions it brings. Let us introduce you to the team, from A‑Z.
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Kate Barclay
Head of Fundraising and Partnerships
Kate looks after all things fundraising and development. She delivers our strategy, nurturing relationships with a host of trusts, foundations, individual donors and businesses, while supporting our fundraisers and legacy givers. Kate helps shape the way we report on the impact of our work and where our money goes — and writes an impressive grant bid.
Kate has over 15 years’ experience in fundraising and development for NGOs, CICs, social enterprises and small charities.
Fun fact: Kate can speak a bit of Tibetan, Polish and Chichewa, which she picked up while travelling.
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Millie Bonnevay
Rewilding Officer
One of our longest standing members of staff, Millie has been with us from the start in 2015. Originally a volunteer, Millie is often the first point of contact for many. She helps with the development of the Rewilding Network and wider engagement on rewilding.
Millie has worked in conservation for almost 20 years, and is an ecology and trees whizz with a background in climate science.
Fun fact: Millie was going to be a dentist, before changing her mind and doing earth sciences.
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Hannah Bullock
Content Manager
Hannah is our chief storyteller, leading the creation of exciting content that’s designed to inspire our audiences to get involved, to take practical action and to influence change.
With a background in environmental communications and digital content, including at Forum for the Future and the Eden Project, Hannah loves the challenge of transforming complex issues into living, breathing content, helping to create the world we want to see.
Fun fact: In her spare time Hannah is a keen Ultimate frisbee player.
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Richard Bunting
Media Advisor/Spokesperson
Richard is responsible for our appearances in the media, from developing proactive stories and writing press releases to organising media interviews and managing queries from journalists.
He has over 30 years’ experience of communications, campaigning and journalism – as Communications Director of Amnesty International, and as a consultant working with NGOs, charities and UN agencies such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
Richard also edits online magazines, Little Green Space and Green Adventures.
Fun fact: Richard had a small role as an extra in cult movie The Princess Bride.
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Marian Carson
Chief Operating Officer
Marian leads our operational activities, overseeing HR, finance, fundraising and our systems, aiming both to enable our team to bring their best selves to work and for us collectively to deliver Rewilding Britain's vision and mission.
Marian has a background in project and operations management, having previously held roles in both the private and charitable sectors. With a long term interest in the natural world, she is delighted to be using her experience to support the team to realise our organisational goals.
Fun fact: Given the choice, Marian would always rather be outdoors.
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Kevin Cumming
Rewilding Director
Kevin oversees our policy work, supports the development of the Rewilding Network and builds engagement with landowners interested in or on their rewilding journey. He also represents Rewilding Britain on the Scottish Rewilding Alliance’s management team.
Kevin has degrees in both business and conservation and a background in charity governance, continuous cover forestry, rural estate management and falconry. He led the first ever large-scale community land buyout in the south of Scotland and the first in Britain to be for the purpose of rewilding.
Fun fact: Kevin left school at the age of 16 after being offered a full-time professional football contract with Dundee Football Club.
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Kate Dawson
Digital Comms Lead
Kate is our digital comms specialist, leading on spreading the rewilding message across social media, website and email campaigns. With a background in online content production, she ensures our digital content helps people along their rewilding journey.
Working for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust has left Kate with a keen sense of the loss that rivers and wetlands have undergone, and why it’s so important for them to heal.
Fun fact: Kate spent several years volunteering on a small city farm, looking after the animals and gardening.
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Alastair Driver
Director
Alastair leads our national policy and influencing work, alongside giving advice to landowners. He raises the profile of Rewilding Britain through public speaking and interviews.
Alastair was the first ever conservation officer for the Thames catchment in 1984 and was Head of Conservation for the Environment Agency 2002 – 2016. He is a member of the London Rewilding Taskforce and Natural England Landscape Advisory Panel, Fellow of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, and an Honorary Professor in Applied Environmental Management at the University of Exeter.
Fun fact: Ali’s Pond Local Nature Reserve in Sonning, Berkshire is named after Alastair.
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Rosanna Evans
Digital Communications Lead (maternity cover)
Rosanna is a digital communications specialist, leading the charge on all things social media, email and website, and supports the wider Rewilding Britain team to ensure their message is heard across the online landscape. She has a background in digital marketing for charities such as the Eden Project in Cornwall and parenting charity Parentkind – and hopes to inspire rewilders across the nation through insightful digital storytelling.
Fun fact: Rosanna loves sea swimming year-round, and can often be spotted bobbing in the Cornish sea with a bobble hat over the winter months.
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Jennifer Few
Philanthropy Manager
Jennifer builds relationships with individuals who want to make a big difference to rewilding across Britain. She works with philanthropists and those who are considering leaving a gift in their will to Rewilding Britain.
Combining over a decade of fundraising experience within the conservation sector with her background in mathematics, Jennifer enjoys spreadsheets, telling nature's stories and meeting new people in equal measure.
Fun fact: Jennifer's first fundraising was a 24-hour sponsored silence aged 12. It remains her hardest challenge to date.
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Katerina Gulika
Graduate Trainee Finance Officer
Working closely with the Head of Finance while collaborating across teams, Katerina supports our day-to-day financial operations and helps improve our procedures and processes.
With a background in statistics and finance, Katerina brings expertise in data analytics and accountancy. Driven by her passion for nature’s recovery, she has pursued studies in environmental management and conservation and volunteered at a nature reserve.
Fun fact: Katerina is an equine psychologist and a happy horse owner.
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Dr Sahran Higgins
Rewilding Researcher
Sahran is growing the evidence base for rewilding, initially focusing on developing a comprehensive monitoring framework. This will provide a standardised approach to data collection across rewilding projects, while capturing their social, ecological and economic changes over time.
Sahran spent 10 years as a Research Fellow in ecology at the University of Exeter. Her research spanned from climate change to molecular and landscape level, focusing on biodiversity, rewilding, nature recovery and how people interact with these.
Fun fact: Sahran is a fair-weather crafter and enjoys creating lampshades, pottery and linoprints.
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Mike Horlock
IT Operations Manager
Mike is passionate about building scalable, secure and innovative IT environments suitable for remote teams. For the past 15 years, Mike has held a wide range of technical roles at organisations such as Warner Brothers Discovery, VICE Media and the BBC, where he has been a champion of new technologies and positive change.
Mike leads Rewilding Britain’s IT approach in a collaborative, agile and eco-friendly manner to support the development of a wilder Britain.
Fun fact: Mike enjoys jogging outdoors and is hoping to get his half marathon time under two hours soon.
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James Hitchcock
Wales Advocacy Coordinator
James leads our policy and influencing work in Wales. With over 20 years’ experience in practical conservation and land management, including within leadership roles within Wales, James is passionate about the need to scale up our efforts for nature's recovery, which can only be achieved by increasing our ambition and embracing natural processes, natural grazing and rewilding.
Fun Fact: if someone is going to fall over out on site, it'll be James.
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James Jefferies
Data Engineer
James manages our people and project data, while coming up with new ways for how we gather it and use it effectively. As well as designing and building our data platforms and improving our systems, he makes sure we’re collecting and using the most useful data from the Rewilding Network.
Previously he has worked on projects with the Parliamentary Data Service, the BBC R&D team, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and more.
Fun fact: James appeared on Songs of Praise wearing only his boxer shorts.
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Sara King
Rewilding Manager
Sara manages and coordinates the development of the Rewilding Network — the first of its kind in Britain. Her role focuses on engaging with Network members and leading our strategy to upscale rewilding. Sara is also working on data collection, mapping projects and setting up connections across Britain to help facilitate knowledge exchange.
Sara has a strong background in rewilding, biodiversity monitoring and assessment, species reintroductions, land management and restoration plans.
Fun fact: As a child, Sara’s wildlife poem was published in a Young Poets from Somerset book.
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Charlotte Maddix
Scotland Advocacy Coordinator
Charlotte supports our partnership with the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, coordinating and implementing its advocacy strategy, while bringing insights from Scotland into Rewilding Britain’s wider policy and influencing work across Britain. She previously worked as a researcher for a Member of the Scottish Parliament, and in partnerships for a local government think tank.
Charlotte has loved thinking about how people use land since learning about the Diggers and the Levellers at school.
Fun fact: Charlotte has visited 63 of the UK’s 70 cities — missing ones include Liverpool, Hull and Armagh.
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Clare McTaggart
Philanthropy Manager (maternity cover)
Claire is working with our individual donors to raise vital funds for our work, while ensuring they’re informed and well supported.
Clare has 14 years’ experience in fundraising and community development, from the charity sector to higher education. Most at home in the outdoors and passionate about our natural world, Clare is delighted to be focusing her energy on rewilding.
Fun fact: At 21, Clare solo trekked Torres del Paine, Patagonia, which sparked her interest in rewilding. She’s dived with sharks in South Africa and lived with sloths in Costa Rica.
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Richard Miller
Head of Finance
Richard oversees all the financial aspects of our strategy and day-to-day operational needs. His role is to ensure that we have a stable financial backbone to support our charitable objectives, minimising risk and maximising the impact from the resources we have.
Richard is an experienced chartered accountant, specialising in charities and not for profits. He is particularly interested in how marine rewilding projects could bring benefits to people and nature.
Fun fact: Miller Street in Birmingham is named after his family, who manufactured cycle lamps in the city.
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Marie Negus
Partnerships and Development Manager
Marie supports our fundraising and development, working with corporate partners, grant-giving trusts and foundations. She manages our Innovation Fund, which fosters the scale and ambition of rewilding projects.
Having worked in development and fundraising for more than 12 years she has a wealth of experience in working with outcomes-based models that have robust evaluation.
Marie previously volunteered for global climate and biodiversity campaign Rewriting Extinction and is a Trustee for Secret World Wildlife Rescue.
Fun fact: Marie took part in the 100km London Nightrider, taking in the capital’s most iconic landscapes.
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Oliver Newham
Policy and Advocacy Lead
Ollie develops, researches and leads the delivery of our evidence-based policy work. Spanning both public affairs and campaigning activities he is always looking to mainstream rewilding into policy and practice across Britain. With a background in political influencing for woods and trees, and for animal welfare before that, he loves delivering the change needed for nature, people and the planet.
Fun fact: Ollie loves nature-themed street art and dreams of building on his small collection.
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Hannah Perl
General Administrator
Hannah provides administrative and operational support to the Rewilding Britain team and our board of directors. She also helps with logistics, including coordination of team away days and other ad-hoc events.
Hannah’s background is in charity and administration. She has a keen interest in animals and the environment, having previously worked for charities such as the Vegetarian Society.
Fun fact: Hannah recently learnt how to crochet and now has too many clothes for her wardrobe.
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Harriet ‘Hetti’ Riding
Media Officer
Hetti handles media enquiries, arranges media appearances and interviews, and creates press releases. She is the first point of call for journalists.
Hetti is an NTCJ qualified journalist and previously worked as a Media Officer for both Yorkshire and Kent Wildlife Trusts. Highlights of her career include pitching and organising a marine episode of Countryfile and co-leading on media for Wilder Blean — a flagship rewilding project which introduced bison into Kent’s ancient woodland.
Fun fact: Hetti fulfilled a life-long dream of meeting Sir David Attenborough in 2018 at a book signing.
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Emma Sirett
Fundraiser (Individual Giving)
Emma works on our individual giving programmes, managing relationships with our individual donors and supporters, encouraging and supporting our fundraisers, and ensuring anyone who donates to us has the best experience possible.
Emma has worked in the charity sector for over 15 years, with experience in engaging corporate employees in their local communities via employee volunteering and CSR programmes, and in providing support for internal operations including finance, HR and data management.
Fun fact: Emma was once awarded a Blue Peter badge for highlighting the dangers litter poses to wildlife.
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Kim Somerville
Communications and Engagement Director
Kim leads the design, development and delivery of our communications, campaigns and engagement.
With a background in campaigning for positive change, she was previously the Managing Director of a creative behaviour change agency where she created campaigns for NGOs, government departments and the NHS. Prior to this, she was the CEO of a national charity focussed on campaigning and policy change in outdoor learning. She loves to inspire a wilder world and engage a movement of people to make this happen.
Fun fact: Kim has an e-bike named Ellie who transports her everywhere in Leeds where she lives!
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Karen Statham
Communications Assistant
Karen supports our communications team, helping ensure our content is flowing, on brand and inspiring and engaging our audiences.
With more than 15 years’ experience in communication roles in the private and not for profit sectors, she produces copy, sources images, creates graphics and uses digital monitoring and reporting tools.
Karen is currently Vice Chair of Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
Fun fact: Karen has a classic 1972 Westfalia Volkswagen Campervan called Hastings.
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Jacques Villemot
Marine Rewilding Coordinator
Jacques is coordinating the delivery of our marine work, working with others in the sector to mainstream rewilding into marine policy and practice. He also supports the development of the Rewilding Network, helping to upscale marine rewilding across Britain.
Jacques has a background in marine policy and hands-on conservation. His experience spans from the French Government to NGOs including the RSPB.
Fun fact: Jacques loves to spend time by the coast and is a passionate freediver.
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Rebecca Wrigley
Chief Executive
Rebecca is one of the founders of Rewilding Britain and is now our Chief Executive. Leading on the development of our strategies, she manages the operations and resources of Rewilding Britain and acts as the main point of communication between the Board of Directors and the rest of the team.
She has worked in the voluntary and public sectors for 23 years, having implemented conservation and community development programmes in the UK, Mexico, Uganda and New Zealand.
Fun fact: Rebecca has watched gorillas, seen turtles hatch and dived with sharks.