Field Studies Council is a registered charity in England and Wales, and in Scotland. The Board of Trustees is the governing body, responsible for ensuring that the organisation 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 – HRH The Princess Royal
- President – Professor Timothy P Burt FAGU FRGS
- Chairman – Jeff Sissons
- Chief Executive – Mark Castle OBE
Patron
HRH The Princess Royal
We are honoured to have HRH The Princess Royal as our Patron and were very pleased to welcome her to our centre at Preston Montford where she was able to meet our customers, staff and trustees.
President
Prof Tim Burt
Tim first visited a Field Studies Council 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 Chris Brook
(Chair of Audit and Risk Management Committee)
Chris is a highly experienced chartered surveyor with a passion for buildings (both modern and historic), the natural environment, and enhancing educational experiences. As a trustee at the Field Studies Council, Chris brings his expertise in estate management and a commitment to advancing outdoor learning.
Chris has held senior leadership positions in two of the UK’s top 5 real estate consultancy firms. More recently he was the Commercial & Estate Director at the Heart of England Forest, a charity creating England’s largest new native broadleaf forest. It was at this charity that Chris saw first-hand the profound and positive impact that high quality outdoor education can have on young minds, broadening horizons and boosting attainment and confidence.
Chris looks forward to supporting the Field Studies Council to continue offering enriching fieldwork residentials and day courses in unique settings, providing unparalleled educational opportunities that inspire a lifelong love of learning and an appreciation of the environment.
Dr Ruth Copeland-Phillips
Ruth is a senior lecturer in Environmental Science at Northampton University. She became a trustee of Field Studies Council in 2024 and visits the charity’s centres on annual basis with her undergraduate students conducting fieldwork. Ruth has over 20 years of experience teaching in the HE sectors and has worked on many national and international projects across a breadth of areas including waste management (circular Economy, waste electrical and electronic equipment, island waste management) as well as wastewater treatment and sediment and pollution transfer within freshwater environments. Ruth has a passion for the outdoors and the enhancement of biodiversity. She is a member of the Royal Society of Biology, British Society for Geomorphology and an associate member of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management. Ruth believes that field work should be inclusive and accessible for all.
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.
Ms Jane Eckford
Jane grew up on a shifting coastline encircled by reclaimed agricultural flatlands, a famous port city, and mountains. Her love of botany, ornithology, literature, geography and wilderness was first forged by her childhood environment. She believes her early curiosity about the natural world shaped her understanding of complex systems. It informed her 40-year senior leadership career in local government and wider public service. Jane is known for pioneering new models of working and adaptive organisational change for the benefit of place, environment and communities, harnessing the capabilities of empowered people and technology. Jane is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management. She is an experienced charity trustee, executive leadership mentor, and writer. In an increasingly virtualised world, Jane is committed to the Field Studies Council’s mission of providing outdoor learning opportunities for young people, to strengthen everyone’s connection with nature, and to protect the natural environment for future generations
Dr Mohammad Farhadinia
Dr Mohammad Farhadinia is a conservation scientist with over two decades of experience in biodiversity research, education, and policy. He earned his BSc and MSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of Tehran, followed by a PhD in Zoology from the University of Oxford. He has held research fellowships at the Oxford Martin School, where he focused on conservation strategies for megafauna across West and Central Asia, particularly around environmental resource use and transboundary conservation. He also held an OPEN Fellowship at Oxford, working with UNEP-WCMC on supporting developing countries to meet their post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework commitments. In 2022, he was appointed Lecturer in Conservation Science at the University of Kent.
Dr Farhadinia also serves on the boards of several conservation groups, including IUCN affiliated Persian Leopard Working Group as well as the board of the Society for Conservation Biology (Asia region) contributing to global strategies for species recovery and sustainable conservation. His work bridges science, policy, and practice—making him a passionate advocate for connecting people with nature through education, evidence, and inclusive conservation.
Dr Delia Garratt
(Chair of Commercial and Fundraising Committee)
Delia is Chief Executive at Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust and is passionate about nature’s recovery in an urban environment and also that everyone has an equal opportunity to access nature in their daily lives.
Prior to joining the environmental sector Delia spent over 20 years working in heritage and culture. Most recently as Director of Cultural Engagement at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust leading on their award-winning learning and engagement programmes, including Shakespeare Week, the national annual celebration which gives primary school children a great first encounter with Shakespeare. She led the development of partnerships resulting in increased access to and research on the charity’s internationally significant collections. She also launched an ambitious creative programme to engage new audiences.
Previously Delia was Museums and Communities Manager at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, and Collections Development Officer at The Waterways Trust (now the Canal and River Trust). Delia enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and friends walking and camping.
Mr Keith Goddard
Keith Goddard BA(Hons), MSc, CPsychol, CSi, AFBPsS, FITOL, MISMA, FAC, MISCP. is a Registered Occupational Psychologist, Registered Sport & Exercise Psychologist, Chartered Coaching Psychologist and Chartered Scientist. He has spent over 30 years working with Leaders and their organisations supporting them with senior leader development & coaching; executive assessment; organisational change; learning & development strategy & design; talent management strategy; ‘top team’ development. He is also a specialist in well-being and resilience. Outside of working with businesses and organisations he also supports teams and individuals in extreme adventure including ocean rowing, high altitude and polar exploration. Professionally, he has two Masters degrees and three Doctorate level qualifications in Psychology. Personally, he has always been passionate about the outdoors, nature, ultra-endurance, photography and cooking.
Prof Peter Higgins
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. He was Director of the UN Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development (Scotland) (2011-24), and advises the Scottish Government and internationally on policy development in his fields. He is a board member of Scotland’s nature agency, NatureScot, chair of its Scientific Advisory Committee and a member of the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee. He is a member of the International Union for Nature Conservation Commission on Education and Communication. His contributions have been recognised through the University of Edinburgh’s highest award for teaching (the Chancellor’s Award); Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society, Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Environment and Outdoor Education.
Ms Lynette Huntley
Lynette brings over 25 years experience in public policy, advocacy, business operations and governance. She is the Founding Director of Peers for the Planet, the cross-party House of Lords climate and nature action group. Prior to that, Lynette was Chief of Staff at Channel 4 Television, where she was C4’s founding Executive Sponsor for the Environment and oversaw a range of strategic and operational projects, as well as serving for a period as the broadcaster’s Board Secretary. Earlier in her career Lynette was Director for Government & Regulatory Affairs at Ofcom and held a variety of roles in the public and private sectors, working in the UK and Brussels, including in consultancy, at the European Commission and the UNHCR. She started her working life at the UK Home Office.
Mr Chris Lane
Chris’s first encounter with Field Studies Council was at Slapton 1971. He has visited FIeld Studies Council 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 Field Studies Council 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 Field Studies Council staff.
Ms Jessica Latchford
Jess Latchford is the founder of three companies, spanning fresh produce marketing, surplus fresh produce redistribution, and the connection between regenerative leadership and regenerative agriculture.
Acting as an intermediary between the farming and hospitality industries, she works with those involved to reestablish vital connections which have been lost along the way through building relationships and offering educational trips based on learnings from and through nature.
Since founding Waste Knot in 2016, as a response to the colossal amount of pre-farmgate, fresh produce wasted due to oversupply and aesthetics, she has become focussed on helping build a resilient food system; one which truly values people and nature by addressing factors such as social justice and environmental sustainability, respectively. Through positively disruptive and transformative processes, along with a focus on regenerative environments, she believes that we can start to imagine and formulate the fusion of human and natural systems; all with the aim of approaching different ways of supporting and developing regenerative ways of acting, being, thinking and doing from a holistic approach to interconnectedness between people and planet.
Jess is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is part of the team who form Nature Based Farming, offering high-quality, professionally managed offsite biodiversity net gain (BNG) units and natural capital services.
Jess enjoys spending her spare time outdoors but when she’s not walking or foraging, she likes to tour bookshops, hunting down weird and wonderful rare editions and forever adding to her ‘to be read’ pile. She also enjoys frequenting the theatre, being part of a choir and playing the piano, as well as partaking in various art forms such as pottery and silk painting. She is an avid animal lover and will quite happily spend hours conversing with her chickens.
Ms Nicola Lynes
Nicola works for Support Staffordshire, a VCSE infrastructure organisation, as their Climate Action Manager, and is passionate about supporting people in all communities (but particularly focussing on urban communities) to connect with and learn about their local nature and environment.
She has worked in environmental education and youth engagement across the UK for 15 years, with experience working for residential centres, local authorities and wildlife charities. Alongside this she has regularly volunteered for a charity to co-ordinate and host environmental projects in the UK for international volunteers, and has travelled internationally with youth groups to take part in volunteering projects abroad.
Her current volunteering involves fostering kittens, and she enjoys spending time outdoors exploring local spaces and attempting to grow food on a very wildlife-friendly allotment.
Ms Gill Miller
(Vice-Chair and Chair of Education and Impact Committee)
Gill is Senior Lecturer Emerita in the Department of Geography and International Development, University of Chester. She was teacher of geography and deputy head of a high school in Cheshire, geography lead at West Cheshire College and in teacher education in North Wales. She has many years of experience examining A-level Geography and has been Principal Moderator for A- level fieldwork and Chief Examiner of A-level Geography and A-level World Development, Gill has authored several A-level texts and was President of the Geographical Association from 2019-2020 and continues to chair the GA Wales Special Interest Group, She was a trustee of two large international charities and chaired the Governing Body of the Geographical Association plus a small music therapy charity. Gill is the subject consultant for Qualifications Wales and was closely involved in the development of the new Curriculum for Wales; setting the GCSE subject criteria; and Regulator approval of the new Geography GCSE. She continues to be a moderator for non-exam assessment in A-level Geography, and revises A-level papers for WJEC. She regularly delivers CPD to geography teachers and lectures to sixth forms.
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
(Chair)
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.
Mr David Westgate
(Chair of Finance and Administration Committee)
David has worked in the property industry for 40 years and is a Chartered Surveyor (FRICS ). He has held a number of director roles for commercial organisations and Trustee roles for charities, over a number of Years. David recently finished full time work to dedicate more time to his family and volunteer roles. He is Chair of Child Rescue Nepal, with regular visits to Nepal to support the work. He is also Chair of the Avon Bat Group, supporting ecology in his local area. A keen hill walker and passionate about the great outdoors.
Mr Philip Wilson
(Honorary Treasurer)
Philip is a Chartered Accountant and became a Trustee of Field Studies Council in July 2025. He is also currently Trustee Treasurer of Plantlife International and WWT and vice chair of the finance committee of Plant Heritage.
Philip worked for 15 years as the Director of Finance & Operations at ISEAL Alliance, an international NGO which defines, promotes and facilitates good practice for market-driven voluntary sustainability systems and their impact on global supply chains. Prior to joining ISEAL, Philip ran his own business in the construction sector, following his earlier career in finance in the professional and commercial sectors.
Philip is a woodland owner, has worked as a volunteer in botanical gardens and has studied and been actively involved in environmental conservation and wetland ecological research. He is a fellow of the Linnean Society. He plays saxophone and has helped run a local wind band for many years. Seven young grandchildren keep him on his toes.