Lady Scott ARPS – Honorary Director
Philippa Scott is Honorary Director of WWT, a position she has held since 1993. She is a life member of WWT’s Council, professional wildlife photographer and is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society.
Philippa married Peter Scott in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1951 after an expedition to ring Pink-footed Geese on the Thorsaver. Following Peter’s knighthood for his services to conservation in 1973, Philippa became Lady Scott.
A keen scuba diver and fish watcher, Philippa is an Honorary Life Member of the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) and is also president of BSAC’s Cotswold branch. She is Patron of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, President of the Nature in Art Trust, a Vice President of the Galapagos Conservation Trust and Vice Patron of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust. Her special interests include Antarctica, which she has visited six times, and the great whales.
Anthony D Thomas OBE - Chair
Since 1984 Tony has been Chief Executive and Director of the Field Studies Council.
The list of Tony’s involvement with committees and working groups in the field of environmental education, education for sustainable development, field studies and assessment of geography is long and he is presently Chair of Council for Environmental Education, EDEXCEL Advanced Level Geography, Geographical Association’s Field Studies Working Group, Forest Education Initiative, Environment Sector WG for the Outdoor Manifesto and the Real World Learning campaign.
He is also a member of a number of environmental and education bodies as well as a consultant to a number of foreign NGOs and governmental agencies.
Leslie D Jones OBE - Treasurer
Les started his career in local government, and then joined Thames Water where he held a number of roles over several years. In 1996 he was awarded the OBE for services to conservation. Also in 1996 he became Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance of the Worldwide Fund for Nature and was acting Chief Executive for a year.
In 1986 he became General Manager of Thames Water’s Rivers Division looking after all aspects of the Thames basin including flood defence, navigation, pollution control, water resources, recreation and conservation. Les now works as a Charity Consultant and is a Trustee of several charities.
Sir Anthony Galsworthy KCMG
Tony worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1966 until he retired in early 2002. He is a specialist in Mandarin Chinese, and ended his career as ambassador to China, having taken part in the Hong Kong negotiations from 1982-93.
Tony has a lifelong interest in wildlife generally, particularly birds and insects. He has been a ringer since 1984, and was Secretary of the Hong Kong ringing group from 1989-93, working with WWF Hong Kong at Maipo on passerines, waders and wildfowl, and published several papers.
He has been a Scientific Associate of the Natural History Museum from 2001,and is Honorary Professor, Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr Chris Spray MBE
Chris is the Director of Environmental Science at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) based in Stirling, a member of the Scottish Biodiversity Group, and a trustee of the Freshwater Biological Association and of the National Biodiversity Network.
He worked for 7 years as a Research Fellow in Zoology at Aberdeen University - including research on both Mute and Whooper Swans. He spent 19 years in various parts of the water industry, starting with Anglian Water Authority and then the National Rivers Authority, and ending as Group Environment Director for Northumbrian Water in Durham.
A past President of the Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management, he was awarded an MBE in 2000 for services to environmental improvement and conservation in the water industry.
Chris has been a Director/Trustee of RSPB and of the British Trust for Ornithology. He has also served as chairman of Tweed Forum, Council member of Durham Wildlife Trust; River Restoration Project; Board of North East Sustainable Development Round Table and the Regional Heritage Lottery Board. A past member of the Government's Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment and of the England Biodiversity Group. Chris is still involved in doing research on swans, particularly in relation to interface with agriculture.
William M Fernie OBE
Bill obtained a BA in History and Law at Cambridge. He worked in the steel industry and in the brewing industry in management and at board level. After retirement, he worked for Government as Chairman of the Hearing Aid Council. He was awarded the OBE in 1995 for services to consumer protection.
He has a lifetime interest in birds and conservation and has been a member of WWT since 1969. A longstanding supporter of WWT and a current member of Finance & General Purposes Committee.
Professor David Macdonald
Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University since 1986, Professor of Wildlife Conservation at Oxford and is also Senior Research Fellow in Wildlife Conservation at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
He has published over 300 papers on aspects of mammalian behaviour, ecology and conservation and has served on, or chaired, a variety of committees, and in 2004 was awarded the Dawkins Prize for Conservation and in 2006 the American Society of Mammalogists Merriam Award for contributions to research.
He is currently Vice President of the Wildlife Trusts, and has been a VP of the Zoological Society of London and of the RSPCA. He is an emeritus fellow of the IUCN/SSC and was founder Chairman for 25 years of the Canid Specialist Group. He is Chairman of the Darwin Initiative Fund for DEFRA and a Board member of Natural England.
David is known for his natural history books and TV documentaries (including Meerkats United) and he has been very interested in wildfowl since an early age; as a student and postgraduate he worked with and under both Myrfyn Owen and Janet Kear at Slimbridge.
Dr Andy Brown
Andy began his career working as a university lecturer in northern Nigeria. He then joined the Nature Conservancy Council, and later became the chief officer of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and subsequently the chief executive of English Nature. When Natural England was created Andy left and became self-employed.
He splits his time between being a board member of the Environment Agency, working overseas on environmental projects, assisting various NGOs and his research interest in freshwater Chironomidae (Diptera).
Andy has been the chair of the UK Biodiversity Information Group, Chair of the IUCN UK Committee, vice chair of the National Biodiversity Network Trust, member of the Rural Climate Change Forum and a member of the World Heritage Site Review Panel. He is a council member of RSPB, a trustee of CPRE, a council member and fellow of the Linnean Society and a fellow of the Institute of Biology.
Peter Day
Most of Peter’s career has been spent in the IT industry, much of which as chief executive of Rolfe & Nolan plc - a software development company serving the international futures and options industry, and more recently as chief executive of a company producing software for financial regulatory authorities. He has been an active volunteer tour guide at the London Wetland Centre since it opened in 2000, and also gives courses to volunteers and the public on wetlands and their plant and animal life. He travels to societies and clubs in the south of England to give presentations about WWT’s conservation work.
He served as a governor of a large comprehensive school in south London for several years, and is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.
Simon Tonge
Simon is currently the executive director of the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust and of South West Environmental Parks Ltd, a charitable organisation based in the south west of the UK, which owns Paignton and Newquay zoos, the Living Coasts exhibit in Torquay and three nature reserves in Devon.
He graduated in zoology from the University of Bristol in 1980 and his subsequent career included the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, where he was a herpetologist, and the Zoological Society of London. His career also includes two years training as an accountant, which left him sadder but much wiser. He is currently chairman of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, vice-chairman of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and sits on the board of two conservation charities in southern Africa.
Simon is a serious birder and interested in all aspects of natural history and conservation.
Our Presidents
Patron
Her Majesty the Queen
President
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales
Vice Presidents
Her Grace the Duchess of Norfolk
John Berkeley, TD, JP, DL
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Buxton of Alsa KCVO, MC, DL
Sir Richard Gaskell LLD (Hon), LLM (Hon)
Sir Jack Hayward, OBE
Hugh Mellor, CBE
Keith Shackleton, RSMA, SWLA
Sir Max Williams
Kate Humble
Chris Packham