Dr Samuel Sinclair

Dr Sam Sinclair is a co-founder and director of Biodiversify, a consultancy which specialises in developing landscape-level plans for nature and supporting the private sector in developing nature-positive strategies. Sam spent a decade working in conservation across Africa which culminated in a PhD at Imperial College London where he studied the social factors in biodiversity decision making. He drew from this expertise to help lead Biodiversify to the forefront of biodiversity sustainability. So far this has included authoring the first ever guidance for creating private sector biodiversity strategies, supporting the UK government in piloting key aspects of The Environment Act and partnering with companies that are pioneering in the nature positive space such as Kering, Tetra Pak and Primark.

Dr Michael Burgass

Michael has twelve years’ experience in conservation science and project management for the private sector, academia and NGOs. Michael has widespread experience in project management, field survey design and management, report writing, environmental audit, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and policy and governance review for a wide range of high-profile clients globally. His technical specialities involve monitoring and managing biodiversity at large scales, and he is actively involved in initiatives to better link scientific practice to biodiversity indicators in the corporate sector as well as how to build biodiversity and nature into corporate accounting.

Michael leads Biodiversify’s work streams in the delivery of biodiversity assessments for corporate clients.  As part of these projects, Biodiversify has developed and tested different methodologies and approaches. Michael has been researching nature-positive concepts as a researcher and together with the team at Oxford University, led Biodiversify’s input in the Conservation Hierarchy project, which went on to inspire the creation of the SBTN’s AR3T Framework. As such, Michael has been a key member of the Science Based Targets for Nature Ocean Hub and led Biodiversify’s input into the Corporate Engagement Program. He has an in-depth knowledge of international regulations and policies on biodiversity and specialises in the design and use of biodiversity indicators.

Dr Cecilia Larrosa

Cecilia has a wide variety of experience working in conservation, including teaching, NGO and consultancy jobs. During the past years she has developed highly technical skills in researching the intersection between the dynamic nature of systems and spatial conservation planning.  Her work lies in the intersection between predictive science, resource allocation and national policies, with the main objective of planning for sustainable landscapes at regional and large scales.

Dr Julia Haywood

Dr Julia Haywood is a spatial analyst with ten years of experience in spatial ecology and applied environmental research. Julia has dedicated her career to using her analytical skills to improve the natural environment. Building on from her academic background, Julia prides herself in implementing cutting-edge science and enjoys the challenge of coding creative solutions that make processes more practical, efficient, and transparent. For Biodiversify, Julia is responsible for leading on the technical aspects of multiple projects with a focus on analytical coding, data visualisation, and product creation.

Katie Fensome

Katie joined Biodiversify not just for its mission but also for its ethos of putting collaborative decision-making at the centre of biodiversity strategy. Coming from a combined social and natural science background, Katie is fascinated by the individual decisions that lead to biodiversity loss and biodiversity protection, and how to influence decision-making at all scales to benefit people and nature.

A strong advocate for pre-competitive collaboration, Katie is passionate about pooling resources and expertise to create solutions that address complex challenges in protecting biodiversity throughout the value chain. Through her eight years as a sustainability consultant and project manager, she has employed a varied skillset – whether using spatial analyses and remote sensing to map and monitor habitat loss, co-developing the industry-wide no-deforestation reporting framework for palm oil during her time at Proforest, leading the development of the fashion biodiversity risk tool

with The Fashion Pact, or working directly with food and fashion brands to design effective strategies for nature – she is motivated by identifying and co-developing sustainable value chain solutions.

When she isn’t paving the way in sustainability, Katie immerses herself in a blend of personal passions: hitting the gym, enjoying live comedy and music gigs, catching waves while surfing, and cooking (usually spicy) culinary delights for friends and family. Her forward-thinking perspective, combined with her ability to discern clients’ needs and foresee potential challenges, makes Katie a very welcome addition to the Biodiversify team.

Katie lived and worked in Mexico, Malaysia and Switzerland before settling in Cornwall, and speaks fluent Spanish.

Joanne Crighton

Cristina Secades

Cristina is an experienced corporate sustainability specialist with over a decade of expertise in translating science and policy into practical, impactful strategies for the private sector. Cristina’s work is driven by a strong commitment to integrating biodiversity conservation with business goals, especially within the mining, infrastructure, and renewable energy sectors. This includes guiding corporations through the creation and implementation of nature-positive strategies, technical support for sustainability reporting, and building multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve transformative change.

Cristina brings a diverse blend of expertise from working in civil society, public policy, and private sector roles. Her comprehensive background allows her to smoothly navigate and bring together diverse stakeholder interests. This unique perspective fosters collaborative sustainable solutions that bridge the gap between environmental imperatives and the needs of businesses.

At Biodiversify, Cristina is at the forefront of our efforts to make the mining supply chain more sustainable. Through strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and the implementation of cutting-edge conservation methodologies, Cristina is dedicated to ensuring that this critical sector operates in a way that safeguards our planet’s ecological health.

Cristina has lived and worked in Spain, Finland, Belgium, Germany, the Dominican Republic, South Africa, and England, where she is currently based. She speaks fluent Spanish, English, and French, and is busy learning Italian.

Daisy Snook

Daisy has a keen interest in UK ecology, with a passion for avian conservation. This knowledge has been established through her recent MSc in Environmental Leadership and Management, specialising in Sustainable Ecosystems. The focus of her work was implementing Systematic Conservation Plans within the context of the UK, where her interest in integrating different stakeholder knowledges into conservation plans blossomed. Her Geography BSc and voluntary work with conservation NGOs have given additional foundation to her enthusiasm for environmental conservation. At Biodiversify, Daisy has focused on the fashion industry and has developed Climate and Biodiversity Strategies for the sector

Dr Mirjam Hazenbosch

Mirjam is an interdisciplinary conservationist. She specialises in sustainable agriculture, trying to find answers to the question of how we can provide everyone with the food and clothing they need while safeguarding the environment. In her work, Mirjam collaborates with farmers, companies, academics and NGOs. She has used a wide variety of approaches to find answers to her question, ranging from measuring ecosystem services to conducting social network analyses to collaborating on a participatory photography project to doing spatial risk analyses – and is always keen to learn and explore new methods. Mirjam has lived and worked in The Netherlands, England, USA, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, and speaks Dutch, English and Tok Pisin fluently.

Holly Pike

Holly has a degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and, through her industry year, has gained a variety of experience from terrestrial conservation research in Greece, to wildlife rehabilitation in Canada. Her passion for conservation led her to undertake an MSc in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Environmental Management, allowing her to apply her ecological knowledge in a more practical way.   Holly’s current master’s thesis focuses on comparing UK woodland establishment techniques by using LiDAR. Her most recent work experience was working on creating a woodland opportunity map for Sussex, allowing local expert knowledge to be combined to prioritise woodland establishment efforts

Sara Kenny

Sara joined Biodiversify in 2022 as our Communications Specialist. She has a BSc in Zoology and an MA in Human Rights and Political Science and draws on experience from both to inform her work. Sara has four years of experience in digital marketing and communications, having come from a background in the charity sector. Sara has also worked independently as a communications strategist and copywriter.

Sara is responsible for developing and delivering communications strategies that raise awareness of Biodiversify’s work and engages key audiences. This includes managing our social media channels, website content, and email newsletters, as well as developing marketing materials.

Sara is passionate about using her skills to support our efforts to see the recovery of nature and believes that effective and honest communication is key to achieving lasting change. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, reading, and spending time with her family and friends.

Dan Oldham

Caitlin Schindler

Caitlin joined the Biodiversify team in February 2023 and brings a wide range of experience across biodiversity, sustainability, and human rights in supply chains. She holds a BSc(Hons) in Environmental Science from Queen’s University and an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford.

Caitlin is passionate about improving the often fraught and complex supply chains of everyday products. From a brief stint in academia working with timber, she then moved into the private sector with a focus on seafood, and most recently worked for a wildlife charity on wild-harvested plant ingredients found in beauty products, food, drink, and medicine. Throughout her career, she’s become familiar with various certification schemes, standards, and market-based mechanisms for improving sustainability and working conditions, and hopes to continue driving these forward with Biodiversify.

Outside of work, Caitlin likes to balance her desk job with art-y pursuits like bread baking, pottery, yoga, and photography, alongside walking her dog(e) Katsu and searching for interesting plants, fungi, and marine life.

Dr. Katie Thompson

Dr Katie Thompson is a remarkable addition to the Biodiversify team as a consultant, bringing with her an impressive blend of experience and genuine enthusiasm for conservation. Before joining our team, Katie adeptly managed a dual role. She was a specialist trainer at WildTeam UK, where she imparted knowledge on a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from project management to stakeholder engagement. Alongside this, she played an instrumental role as a postdoctoral researcher at Bournemouth University. There, she was deeply involved in an ambitious conservation project, focusing on the preservation of freshwater habitats, with a particular emphasis on science communications.

Now, at Biodiversify, Katie’s role is multifaceted. Inspired by the company’s ethos, she’s keen on bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical applications to aid conservation. Her work is centred on data manipulation and social science and she collaborates closely with clients to leverage data in minimising adverse impacts on nature.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Katie is an ardent nature enthusiast. Her PhD work is a testament to this, as it encompassed an intriguing research project dedicated to the conservation of African elephants – a true highlight of her academic career. Outside of the ‘office’ you can find her enjoying nature walks, hiking, bird watching and indulging in her artistic side through painting – often accompanied by a comforting cup of coffee.

Barny Dillarstone

Barny joined Biodiversify in 2023 as our Commercial Lead for NatureSearch. Passionate about conservation technology and nature finance, Barny is leading on taking the BNG Screening Tool to market and supporting the development of future versions of the tool. After finishing a BSc in Chemistry, Barny went on to do a master’s at Imperial College in Environmental Technology, where he focussed on international ocean policy and marine protected area design.

Following his master’s, Barny went on to work with The Nature Conservancy and SeyCCAT, before spending time as a scientific consultant in Indonesia, designing new surveying and mapping techniques for a small conservation organisation.

Before joining Biodiversify, Barny spent three years building twio, a software company that helped online businesses to build impact into their marketing campaigns by rewarding customers with personailsed donation rewards whenever they made a purchase, left a review, or signed up to a newsletter.

In his spare time, Barny can be found out in the countryside with his binos or camera close by!

Peter McCann

As a consultant at Biodiversify, Peter brings a wealth of experience backed by 3 years in consultancy roles and holds a master’s degree in biodiversity and conservation. At their previous position with Eunomia, Peter was a key contributor to a landmark collaboration with WWF, including designing a new data collection system for assessing the performance of UK retailers towards environmental targets and modelling sustainable agroecological food systems. Skilled in understanding supply chains and their relationship with biodiversity, Peter’s role will focus on navigating frameworks like SBTN and TNFD, allowing them to work with our clients to employ data-centric conservation strategies. Peter has also published work on the interactions between intensive agriculture and climate change, producing the first global assessment of their joint impacts on insect biodiversity. 

Combining expertise in data analysis, coding and modelling, Peter envisions a future where precise data allows businesses to put nature first in decision-making. Off the clock, Peter has an affinity for nature whether they’re hiking, foraging or immersed in gardening.  

Dr Stefanie Kaupa

Dr Stefanie Kaupa is a geographer with over 6 years of professional experience in natural and water resource management on an international scale, joining Biodiversify in September 2023.

Prior to joining Biodiversify, Stefanie worked across a range of multi- and bilateral international development organisations such as the World Bank, GIZ and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  During her tenure there, she gained extensive experience in East Africa, South Asia and the Caucasus and in the facilitation of multi-stakeholder dialogue, policy advice and cross-cultural communication.

After her time in the industry, Stefanie immersed herself in academia, earning a PhD from King’s College London. Her research there examined the effects of large-scale forest restoration on water availability in the tropics. Skilled in water resource and geospatial modelling, Stefanie’s passion is helping companies better understand and act upon their environmental impacts. She’s a firm believer in enabling the private sector to step up and act for nature.

At Biodiversify, Stefanie delivers technical guidance on water resources and is an integral part of the spatial data science team. With her wide-ranging experience in the use of Earth Observation (EO) data and the development of spatial models, Stefanie’s mission is to bring remote sensing data into corporate environmental decision-making where sensible and feasible.

When she’s not working, Stefanie can often be found rock climbing, hiking, making her own seitan and reading food and history related non-fiction.

Dr Beth Robinson

Dr Beth Robinson, a consultant at Biodiversify, has carved out an impressive and diverse career in the ecological sector. Her professional journey includes impactful roles with WildTeam, Natural England, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and the Institute of Zoology at London Zoo, as well as various independent ecological projects. Beyond her professional achievements, Beth’s commitment to environmental causes is evident in her involvement with grassroots initiatives such as establishing a local bat group and co-founding Plastic Free Falmouth.

Beth’s academic journey includes a BSc in Zoology from Durham University and an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation. Her deep dive into invasive species and human-wildlife interactions was the focus of her PhD in Biological Sciences. Her career highlights include her time with WildTeam, a charity providing professional support for conservationists, where she engaged in international conservation efforts, notably with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme. Beth’s expertise in project management, developed through real-world experiences and mentorship from various professional teams, has been instrumental in her career.

Beth is passionate about staying active and engaging with nature. She has completed an ultramarathon in the past and embarked on a remarkable cycling journey that took her from Cornwall to the easternmost point in England, and then back to Land’s End. This adventure, full of scenic detours and discoveries, mirrors the energy and commitment she brings to Biodiversify. Her dynamic blend of professional expertise and personal zeal for nature and exploration adds a unique and vibrant dimension to our team.

Jack Jarvie

Jack has joined Biodiversify as an analyst, bringing with them a rich background from roles at the Forestry Commission and LumiraDx. Their journey reflects a deep passion for biodiversity and a flair for coding, perfectly aligning with their new role.

The highlight of Jack’s career has been their groundbreaking MSc project on antbird dispersal in the Amazon. This work not only demonstrated Jack’s skill in R programming and QGIS but also their commitment to making a difference in the field of Environmental Conservation. With a BSc in zoology and an MSc and Quantitative Analysis in Biodiversity, Conservation, and Epidemiology, Jack has cultivated a robust foundation for their impactful work at Biodiversify.

At Biodiversify, Jack is excited to grow their skill set and contribute to meaningful projects. They bring the same meticulous attention to their work as they do to their hobbies. Whether it’s the careful crafting of Warhammer models or the joy of discovering new trails and bird species on their Scottish hikes, Jack’s hobbies reflect their detailed and immersive approach to life.

Jack’s love for the outdoors and their creative pursuits not only provide a balance to their analytical work but also keeps them deeply connected to the natural world they are passionate about protecting. Jack’s unique combination of professional expertise and personal passions makes them an invaluable member of the Biodiversify team.