The FSC is a registered charity in England and Wales, and in Scotland. The Board of Trustees is the governing body, responsible for ensuring that FSC conducts its affairs in accordance with the Articles of Association and the law.
The Board and its principal committees operate to a schedule of quarterly meetings. Once policy and strategy have been agreed, responsibility for implementation lies with the Chief Executive and Management Team.
People
- Patron – The former Prince of Wales
- President – Professor Timothy P Burt FAGU FRGS
- Chairman – Professor Peter Higgins PFHEA, FRGS
- Chief Executive – Mark Castle OBE
- Vice Patrons:
Professor Steve Jones FRS
Joanna Mcvey
David Streeter MBE FRSB
Professor Iain Stewart MBE PRSGS FRSE - Vice-Presidents:
Alastair Lavery OBE
Rob Lucas FRGS
Anthony D Thomas OBE
Professor Desmond B A Thompson FRSE FCIEEM
President
Prof Tim Burt
Tim first visited an FSC Centre in the mid-1970s (Nettlecombe) when a PhD student at Bristol. He then started taking his own field trips from Huddersfield Polytechnic to Slapton and Rhyd-y-Creuau. At Durham he took students to Blencathra (a course still running 20 years later). Tim retired in 2017 after 21 years as Master of Hatfield College, Durham, and Professor of Geography. He became an FSC trustee in 1982, Chairman in 1996 and President in 2014. Tim’s academic interests are in physical geography, in particular hydrology, geomorphology and climate change. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the British Society for Geomorphology. He was awarded the David Linton Award by the British Society for Geomorphology (2017).
Trustees
Mr Peter Anderson
(Chair of Audit and Risk Management Committee)
Peter became a trustee in 2016. He was a corporate finance partner for 29 years with a large London law firm, before retiring in 2015. Peter has lived in south west London for over 30 years. He grew up in Northern Ireland and read History and Law at Downing College, Cambridge. Peter has been a trustee of a neighbourhood care charity, a grant giving charity, and a Director of a medium sized company in the retail sector.
Mr Malcolm Beatty OBE (Honorary Treasurer)
Malcolm is retired, he sails small boats on Strangford Lough with his wife, and teaches seamanship. Before that, he led the Northern Ireland Forest Service, drawing on his professional skills as a Chartered Forester, Plant Health Professional, and Accountant. Its work depended on insights from field observations and rigorous science to challenge perceptions, manage the complexity of forests, plan harvests, and improve biodiversity; to protect crops and trees; and provide access for people to enjoy the countryside.
Dr Martin Christie
Martin is currently senior advisor at Kumi Consulting supporting policymakers and the private sector in implementing responsible business practices in global supply chains. He has nearly 30 years’ experience in the energy and extractive industries working in Sustainability and External Affairs and, most recently, was the first Executive Director of a global supply chain initiative. Martin is also Chair of a local charity enriching the lives of young people and adults with autism and/or learning disabilities. He is also a novice beekeeper.
Ms Amanda Craig
Amanda is Natural England’s Director for People & Nature, having been Operations Director (North) for 5 years. With a background in practical habitat management and ecology, Amanda has held a number of operational roles in Natural England, including leading on the initial set up of the England Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme, Water Company Pricing Reviews and was Area Manager for Shropshire, Staffordshire and Birmingham. Amanda is a licensed bat volunteer.
Prof Peter Higgins
(Chair)
A love of and care for the natural world, led to Pete’s academic training and early career as an environmental scientist and freshwater biologist, and roles including re-introducing salmon to the Thames. Following teacher-training he taught outdoor and environmental education in residential centres. As Professor of Outdoor Environmental & Sustainability Education (University of Edinburgh), he teaches indoors, on-line, and outdoors on the River Spey, Isle of Rum and locally. His research and writing is primarily in these fields. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Association, and was recently awarded the University’s highest award for teaching ‘The Chancellor’s Award’. He is Director of the University’s Global Environment & Society Academy, Director of the UN Regional Centre of Expertise in ESD (Scotland), and advises Scottish Government and internationally on related education policy development.
Prof Nicholas Howden
Nicholas is Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering at the University of Bristol, a Trustee and Director of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and is Chair of CIWEM’s Professional Standards Committee. His research produces quantitative models that link climate, land-use and land management to the quantity and quality of surface and groundwater, and he teaches Water Resources, Environmental Management and Environmental Statistics in the Department of Civil Engineering at Bristol. Nicholas’ recent research projects have included reconstruction of historical records of soil carbon, national-scale hydrological modelling for drought and water scarcity planning, and new techniques to identify groundwater contributions to river flows. Prior to working at Bristol, Nicholas was a Lecturer in the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University, and also worked for International Mining Consultants (IMC) building models and new monitoring networks to help manage the ongoing water quality and Greenhouse Gas emission legacy of the UK’s abandoned coal mines.
Mr Mark Keatley-Clarke
Mark has had years of experience working in the outdoors with trauma impacted individuals and groups. He is a qualified outdoor instructor, coach and leader. He works as an Outdoor Activity Manager, leading the outdoor provision for a large children’s care company based across Northern England and Southern Scotland. He has previously worked for various outdoor development charities such as Venture Trust delivering intensive therapeutic and personal development wilderness programmes. He is passionate about outdoor activities, the environment and bringing people and nature closer together.
Mr Chris Lane
Chris’s first encounter with FSC was at Slapton 1971. He has visited FSC centres, in various capacities, at least once every year since then. Almost 40 years as a teacher of geography cemented his view of the value of FSC work to young people in their learning and understanding of their environment. This experience shaped his desire to contribute further to the organisation, where his chief interests are for the users and for the safety and wellbeing of all FSC staff.
Prof Rob Marrs
(Vice Chair Education)
Rob is an applied plant ecologist. Now retired, he is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool and has a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship. His research interests include restoration ecology and the conservation of heathland and moorland habitats and their interactions with weed species, especially bracken. During his career he has worked on ecosystems ranging from the sub-tundra to tropical forests. For almost 30 years he taught field work skills to undergraduate and masters students, often using FSC sites.
Ms Gill Miller
(Chair of Education Strategy Committee)
Gill is Senior Lecturer Emerita in the Department of Geography and International Development, University of Chester. Her early career was as teacher and deputy head of a secondary school. She was Chief Examiner of A-level World Development, has many years’ experience examining A-level Geography, is a moderator for non-exam assessment, and revises A-level papers for WJEC. Gill has authored several A-level texts and wrote regularly for Geography Review. She delivers CPD to geography teachers and lectures on geographical and development issues to sixth forms. She is currently President of the Geographical Association (2019-2020), and trustee of other organisations, including Five Talents, a microfinance NGO.
Mr Nicholas O’Loughlin
Nick has been involved in outdoor learning all of his professional life, although there isn’t really a time that he remembers before spending time in the outdoors. He is currently Head of Geography at AKS Lytham, having been a geography teacher since 2001; using the outdoors to enhance the knowledge and understanding of his students whenever possible. He organises at least two whole year group residentials each academic year, often three or four! Following on from completing an MA in Educational Management and Leadership, where he looked into the perceived benefits of educational visits on GCSE attainment, he has just started research towards a PhD, investigating the lived experiences of teachers who are prepared to organise learning outside the classroom opportunities. Before becoming a teacher, he worked in the outdoor industry and is also currently a trustee for the Institute for Outdoor Learning.
Mr Jeff Sissons
Jeff’s corporate career spans executive and non-executive positions, including CEO of a UK FSA regulated company, Chairman of an Irish IFSRA/CBI regulated company, sales and marketing director and then compliance director of an international life insurance company. In 2012 he decided to focus on academic studies, freelance consultancy and non-executive roles. Jeff combines his commercial experience with an MA in Coaching and Mentoring Practice; an MSc in Psychology; and an MSc in Applied Ecology. He currently serves as a non-executive director of Ramblers Holiday Group Ltd.