External Advisory Board

Our External Advisory Board (EAB) is made up of professionals with expertise in environmental sustainability from other academic institutions, industry, and the third sector, to help YESI with:

  • strategic advice
  • feedback on our activities
  • identifying knowledge gaps and suggesting possible new ideas for future research and collaborations
  • strengthening reciprocal links between the University of York and external organisations.

Dr Beth Brockett

Senior Social Scientist, Forest Research

Beth is a social science and interdisciplinary specialist.  She has previously worked for Natural England as a social scientist and a farm conservation adviser, as an interdisciplinary academic researcher and as a community development practitioner.  She has authored a range of policy & practice relevant reports and published in peer-reviewed journals. Beth is passionate about working collaboratively to realise the potential for social science to inform and shape solutions to our environmental challenges.

Mike Childs

Head of Science, Policy and Research, Friends of the Earth

Mike has worked for more than 30 years at Friends of the Earth.  His current role is Head of Science, Policy & Research. Previously he led the team at Friends of the Earth which initiated and ran the successful campaign for the Climate Change Act.  His team’s current work ranges from campaigns to improve corporate due diligence to assisting councils to deliver on their climate and nature ambitions. He was a student at the University of York in the late 80s.

 

Andy Griffiths

Head of Sustainable Procurement, Diageo

Andy is responsible for catalysing and enabling the sustainable transformation of Diageo’s global, upstream supply footprint to support the transition to a climate, nature and people positive future. He has worked in the agrifood sector for over 25 years, originally in operational and engineering roles. He is a chartered environmentalist and IEMA fellow and a chartered engineer (IET). He is focussed on bringing together the engineering expertise, operational experience and environmental insights of the organisation, alongside action oriented, collaborative partnerships, to develop and implement robust and effective sustainability solutions. Andy co-developed the Landscape Enterprise Networks model (LENs) with 3Keel to enable effective, shared interest investment, at scale, into the regeneration of multifunctional landscapes.

Tim Lord

Head of Climate Change, HSBC

Tim is Head of Climate Change at HSBC.  He has almost 20 years’ experience working on climate, energy and industrial policy for the UK government, most recently as Director responsible for the UK government’s decarbonisation strategy.  He is also Senior Fellow for Net Zero at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

 

Sarah Wakefield

Head of Food Transformation, WWF-UK

Sarah is the Head of Food Transformation at WWF-UK. She joined WWF in 2021 after a decade of experience in food retail, focused on ethics and sustainability. She leads WWF’s engagement with the food industry and oversaw the Retailers’ Commitment to Nature launched at COP27 with the ambition of halving the impact of UK Baskets by 2030.

 

Rachel Stancliffe

Director, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

Rachel has been working on the intersection of health and the environment for the past 14
years since she founded The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) in 2008. Her team at
CSH is supporting the transformation of healthcare in the UK and internationally for a
sustainable future.  

She is also a founding Director of the Community Interest Company, Global Healthcare
Information Network and is on several Boards.