CHAP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Project Accountant
Matthew graduated in 2018 with a BSc (Hons) Mathematics with Statistics from the university of Portsmouth. Since graduating he has worked in finance/accounts payable related roles in various sectors including: Engineering consultancy, science and technology, and engineering manufacturing. Most recently working in the finance department as an Invoicing and Collections Officer for the Food Standards Agency. He moved up to York from London earlier in the year to live with his partner and to be closer to his biggest interest outside of work, Newcastle United Football club. Having been indoctrinated as a baby by his dad, it has been a big part of his life ever since.
Job Titles:
- Capability Co - Ordinator
Job Titles:
- Technical Liaison Officer, Rothamsted Research
Adrian has been an accountant of one kind or another for over 30 years. He has worked in numerous sectors including Telecoms, Aerospace, Higher Education, Engineering, Food and Drink manufacturing and Housing Associations. Fascinated by technology he was seconded onto the global SAP rollout team whilst in Telecoms which was a huge challenge for all those involved. To relax, he likes to ride one of his bikes or plan his next trip abroad.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Technical Liaison Officer, Cranfield University
Job Titles:
- Interim Financial Controller
Mark has more than 14 years' experience working within a projects setting, the majority of this time was spent within the rail service industry working on both long term maintenance contracts and short term refresh projects ranging from £10m to £100m. More recently he has worked within the steel manufacturing industry, where he used his considerable excel skills to enable the business to improve the efficiency of their internal reporting. Mark has a BA in Business and Management, Association of Project Managers Fundamental qualification and is working towards his Chartered Institute of Management Accountants qualifications. Interesting/fun fact: Mark is a bit of a plane spotter and spent five years loading aircraft for the RAF in the UK and abroad.
James previously worked in law for 10 years as a Litigation Executive and after careful consideration, decided that a career change into project management was the right fit for him. James recently completed his PRINCE 2 Practitioner qualification. James is one-quarter German (his grandmother is from Berlin) and in his spare time is trying to learn the language that most people expect him to be already fluent in! He also has a caring side and is registered on the Anthony Nolan Trust register as a stem cell donor.
Matthew has worked in the charitable sector for membership organisations for the previous five years, including three years at the Royal Geographical Society. He holds a BA(Hons) in Modern History. As CHAP's membership manager Matthew will be based in York. He has responsibility for the management and continuing development of the membership programme. Before making the move to Membership management, he worked in retail banking, teaching and lived and worked in Australia. Matthew is an avid football and cricket fan (Huddersfield Town). He loves to travel and is a keen walker. On his travels he has climbed Mt Rinjani (in Lombok) and New Zealand's Mt Ngauruhoe (a.k.a. Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings).
As a farmer's daughter from Aberdeenshire, Dr Jenna Ross OBE has a passion for driving innovation in agriculture. Jenna holds a PhD in Environmental Science, as well as an MBA and Executive Education in Global Business from Harvard Business School, and has more than 15 years' experience delivering high impact international projects across Europe, North America, Asia, Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. She has completed a Nuffield Farming Scholarship, winning the Nuffield HSBC Silver Salver and Greener Future Awards, and is the immediate past Chair of Nuffield Scotland and current Trustee on the board. Jenna is also an Honorary Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, Chartered Manager and Companion of the Chartered Management Institute, Associate of CARAS, founding board member of the Africa Scotland Business Network and Co-Chair of the IOBC Slug & Snails Group. Jenna is highly published and has won an array of business and agricultural awards. She is also passionate about inspiring the next generation of agriculturalists through her work as a STEM ambassador and LANTRA industry Champion. Jenna received an OBE in Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II final honours list in June 2022 as part of the Jubilee celebrations in recognition for her work in agriculture and science. She was also named as a Coronation Champion, an award launched by the Royal Voluntary Service, alongside Her Majesty The Queen Consort, to celebrate the work of extraordinary volunteers across the UK in His Majesty The King's Coronation year in 2023. As CHAP's Senior International Business Development Manager, Jenna works to expand CHAP's global reach by leading its international development of high impact game changing AgriTech projects. Jenna is a self-proclaimed slug enthusiast with a passion for international travel!
Job Titles:
- Technical Marketing Manager
Kelly, in her role as Finance Director at CHAP, leads the finance function and team and is also an active member of the executive management team. She gained more than 10 years' experience in the manufacturing and construction industry, during one of the most difficult global recessions which required businesses to show improvements to internal procedures and working practices. Most recently she has held a board level position in a SME within the manufacturing sector, which required a diverse skillset from sound corporate governance, to effective change processes. Kelly holds an MSc degree and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Outside of work, Kelly owns an Irish Setter and truly believes they are the most good natured and affectionate dogs. She hates having her photo taken and has been known to exhibit moderate competitiveness in team-building escape room games.
Job Titles:
- Technical Liaison Officer, CABI
Lucy recently graduated from the University of York where she did an integrated masters in Biology, primarily focusing on plant science and culminating in a dissertation that explored nickel uptake in stomatal density mutants. Her degree included a year in industry at the agricultural consultancy ADAS, which involved assisting with field trials to test plant protection products on various crops. This helped shape an interest in balancing crop yield enhancement with sustainable and ecologically-considerate practises. In her new role with CHAP, Lucy will be working to enhance communication with Stockbridge Technology Centre as well as providing technical support for the capabilities located at STC. At university Lucy spent her spare time tap dancing as part of the dance society, but now you'll often find her painting, crocheting or trying to identify random plants. Her dream to grow her own vegetables must be closer to realisation thanks to the facilities and experts at STC, where Lucy is based.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Manager
Rosie has a background in plant pathology and crop protection having worked in technical and marketing roles for BASF for over 16 years, both in the UK and Germany. In addition, she has had roles involving product & business development and R&D project management in both private and public sector organisations. She is passionate about agriculture, innovation, and STEM education, and is a Governor for Myerscough college near Preston and is the Chair of the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (IKE). Rosie also has a Cockerpoo called Shonie.
As Research Associate for New Innovations, Jemma is based at our office at Rothamsted Research. Jemma did her BSc in Plant Science at the University of Nottingham. She then went on to work at Warwick HRI on a research project looking at understanding flowering time in lettuce. She later became a rocket scientist by taking a PhD at the University of Warwick looking at breeding late bolting varieties of rocket. Jemma has continued working in both industry and academia, and with a range of crops, including lupins for Ethiopia while at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Jemma works in the Innovation Team, meeting stakeholders and developing business cases for new ideas to support the agri-tech industry. Jemma enjoys learning new things and having new experiences, which over the past few years has meant skiing, safari in Kenya, horse riding lessons, salsa dance classes, jewellery making and some unusual baking recipes!
Job Titles:
- Research Associate for New Innovations
Aurélie, a knowledge exchange and business development professional, has more than 10 years' experience engaging and working with UK and international organisations and stakeholders to deliver innovation in the agrifood sector. A molecular plant biologist by background, Aurélie has gained a broad view on innovation and a cross-cutting R&D knowledge across an array of industry sectors and technologies through prior roles at Agrimetrics, the Biorenewables Development Centre and the Knowledge Transfer Network. Aurelie has also previously worked at CHAP and is thrilled to be back to work on the Gelponics project. Aurélie enjoys independent travel and the outdoors. A keen Capoeira practitioner (Brazilian Martial Art), she is a co-founder of the non-profit ‘Capoeira in York Community', where she assists teaching children's classes.
Job Titles:
- Senior International Business Development Manager
Linsey has a strong commercial background (technical services, sales, marketing, business development) with experience throughout the Life Science Sector, leaving the laboratory bench over 30 years ago. Linsey has worked for Amersham International plc, GE Healthcare and set up her own company in 2005, LLC Associates Limited, to provide commercial resource to the Life Science Industry. Linsey holds a science degree and an MBA. Linsey loves running with her dogs, swimming and has completed three marathons.
Job Titles:
- Head of Marketing and Communications
Darren hails from a varied media background and has worked at a whole host of media outlets including the Metro, the Evening Standard, Radio Aire and Minster FM. Before this he plied his trade at a food and drink magazine and website platform that he built and ran. He was responsible for the overall branding of the organisation as well as taking the lead on the marketing and communications strategy. He consequently became a digital marketing and social media expert. Darren is an avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club and followed them to glory in Istanbul in 2005. He lived in Hong Kong in the year of the handover in 1997 and in Tokyo from 2000 to 2006. He speaks fluent Japanese and has written a YA Fantasy novel.
Harry has a background in soil science and geomicrobiology, with a PhD in Environmental Science from The University of Sheffield. He has worked in postdoctoral and scientific coordination roles for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and The University of Sheffield, focusing on soil microaggregate structure and landscape-scale environmental observation systems. Before joining CHAP he spent three years working as a Knowledge Exchange Fellow for the N8 AgriFood Resilience Programme, building and leading an innovation cluster on Urban & Controlled Environment Agriculture and delivering knowledge exchange focused on soil health and sustainable agriculture. Harry is an expert in cryoconite and spent his PhD traversing glaciers in Svalbard; he also plays badminton competitively and enjoys walking in the Peak District.
Mae brings 12 years' experience of working in finance to CHAP. She began her career within the construction industry at the age of 17, where she worked in sales and marketing for just over a year as Customer Enquiry Assistant, before moving across into the finance department where she worked as an Accounts Assistant for a further six years. Following this she moved on to work in the farming industry for an animal feed manufacturer, as Finance Assistant. Mae is a self-confessed nature geek who loves anything to do with animals, though she is particularly fond of cows. She loves to travel, and picked up the snorkelling bug while swimming with turtles in the Maldives. Closer to home, Mae enjoys fishing and country walks.
Job Titles:
- Technical Project Manager
Chioma is a project manager with a track record of successfully delivering complex projects across various industries. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering and two Master's degrees in Project Management and Design Thinking, which underscores her commitment to continuous learning and professional development. Her passion for the agrifood sector began as a hobby in hydroponic farming, and evolved into a full-fledged business venture in Nigeria. She enjoys researching and developing innovative solutions to challenges around sustainability in the agrifood sector. When she is not working, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends or simply unwinding by watching good movies.
Hannah is an agri-tech entrepreneur. Her work with plant breeders and seed producers takes her across five continents. She is passionate about bringing change to agriculture through entrepreneurship, and mentors several start-ups. Hannah spent her early career at Tesco and Tesco.com during the dot-com boom, later transitioning to strategy consulting. She holds an MA (Oxon, double first) and an MBA from Stanford. Hannah holds a private pilot's licence and loves to fly light aircraft when she gets the chance.
Laura has a wealth of experience in both the public and private sector, having previously managed a large diverse portfolio of events and projects in her career. As an integral part of the PMO Team Laura has experience of delivering InnovateUK Projects. She is skilled at managing client relationships, project reporting and implementing project controls throughout the life-cycle of projects, while collaborating with partners, industry and academics to ensure success. Laura is also an actress and can be found treading the boards outside of work. She also works on corporate videos and does voiceover work.
Karen is an experienced Project/Programme Manager, with the APM Project Management Qualification. Work experience includes leading and controlling projects as wide ranging as Type45 warship support to bringing innovative new technology into warehousing and logistics. Karen is skilled at managing client relationships, and looking forward to collaborating with the organisations partners, industry and academics to deliver successful projects for CHAP. Karen has lived up and down the country, spent a year in Malaysia and recently settled near York. She says she would like to spend more time playing golf to try to get her handicap down!
Martin has been involved in the horticultural sector at a senior level for more than 35 years. He has succeeded in many different environments and is capable of taking on new roles which require lateral thinking, innovative answers and team leadership. Experienced at the forefront of the industry in technical, management and executive positions, he is also one of the few people to be awarded the M. Hort (RHS) as well as being one of the youngest. He has managed farming operations all over the world at the same time as managing multiple production sites in the UK. More recently, Martin has re-introduced baby Chantenay carrots, as well as new strains of purple and white Chantenay carrots. He has also been involved as a director of Stockbridge Technology Centre and the HDC/AHDB for many years and is currently on the board of several other organisations. As well as being a qualified practitioner of agronomy, he is a qualified teacher, lectures part time and holds a MBA.
Corrie is an experienced Project and Programme Manager and holds the Prince2 Practitioner qualification. She has worked as an independent consultant for 8 years delivering strategic IT business transformation as part of large merger and acquisitions projects in the manufacturing, marine and logistics sectors. Background is operational business systems analysis, application rationalisation and software delivery. Corrie plays the classical guitar, collects RUSH memorabilia and enjoys prog rock gigs. She also loves gaming. She spent 14 years living in Spain and speaks Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Capability Liaison Manager
In and around a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in History, Alex has almost 10 years' experience working in a variety of project management and co-ordination roles in both the academic and professional sectors. He has co-ordinated projects for an international construction company, a private health economics consortium and for the Universities of Birmingham and York. He has also worked for the British Library in London - the perks of a History degree! He is looking forward to putting his skills to good use in his new role as Capability Co-ordinator. Alex spent Summer 2020 working full time for a local residential care home for adults with learning and physical difficulties. It was a huge change to anything he had previously done but he loved doing his bit and is continuing to work there in a voluntary setting.
Kaitlyn joins the team as Administrative Assistant. She's worked in USA, Australia and England in manufacturing supply chain and sales, but her most recent role has been at DEFRA. With an MA in creative writing, she has experience in copyediting and producing newsletters. As well as her passion for sustainability, Kaitlyn runs a mounted reenactment team and performs demonstrations across the country. Her particular interest is side saddle and its associated history.
Christine is a CIMA qualified accountant with over 15 years' experience across various roles in finance. She has worked in numerous sectors in both contract and permanent positions - renewable energy, potato farming and processing, train operator, hospitality, financial services (to name a few). Within work, she enjoys a challenge and if there is any way to streamline a task then she will look to find it. Outside of work Christine enjoys watching sports - particularly Darts. She also loves to try new hobbies, recently being to a pottery class and flower arranging class (but was no good at either).
Joanne graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in Agricultural Business Management and has held the PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification since 2017. She has many years' experience in managing projects and has worked as a Project Lead across the public and private sectors. Joanne loves the outdoors especially walking along the Northumberland coastline and spends as much time there as possible. She is also a closet novelist and is currently working on a crime novel: less PD James and more ‘Good heavens has there been a murder?'
Experienced in agricultural and environmental research, technology transfer, and commercialisation, Geoff will help bring CHAP's innovative agricultural research and cutting-edge facilities to both current and future collaborators as a Business Development Manager in the Commercial team. Prior to joining CHAP, Geoff was Project Development Manager for the Cambridge Enterprise-led Ceres Agri-Tech Knowledge Exchange Partnership, developing and funding university innovation in translational agri-tech. Geoff's career also includes six years at the James Hutton Institute as a Fellow and Senior Scientist in Molecular Microbial Ecology, leaving in 2015 to gain a Graduate Diploma in Law. Geoff has also led national and international research projects on nitrogen fixation in Brazil and Mexico, gene transfer in the environment, and agricultural dust pollution in the Californian Central Valley, and his PhD explored mercury resistance in soil microorganisms at the University of Liverpool, where he also gained his first degree in Genetics. Geoff keeps fish in both pond and aquascape, with rabbits and family nestled in between.
Job Titles:
- Technical Liaison Officer, STC
Before joining CHAP, Archita worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Liverpool John Moores University, where she developed research interests in studying slugs and finding their biological control measures. Archita is originally from Assam, the Tea capital of India. She holds a PhD degree in Entomology from Gauhati University, India. In parallel to her PhD, she also worked as a Research Fellow at Tocklai Tea Research Institute India (the world's oldest institute for tea research) for five years in various projects related to the management of tea pests. During 2018-19, Archita also worked for Vigyan Prasar, Delhi, the communication wing of the Department of Science and Technology, India. In her current role with CHAP, Archita is based in Egham at CABI's laboratories. Archita loves playing and watching cricket. Her childhood dream was to become a cricketer.
Amy joins the team as Project Accountant. Prior to joining CHAP, Amy worked in a care home and a prestige and luxury car garage specialising in administration and finance. After under-taking self learning about project management, Amy decided that this role was perfect for her! In her spare time, Amy loves playing board games and enjoys going to music gigs, gardening, cooking and baking. Amy also has a cat who is spoilt rotten and definitely knows it!
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Accountant
Ed has more than 11 years' experience in a variety of bidding roles across the IT and higher education sectors, and across grant funded projects, contract research and commercial tendering. He has achieved wins up to £45 million, positions on 20 highly competitive framework agreements and has worked on numerous industry-academia partnerships. Ed has a strong background in sales, marketing and commercial roles and held a board level position within an innovative IT research and development SME. Ed has a BSc (Hons) in Social Psychology and holds the APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) qualification. He is also an experienced project manager and has PRINCE2 certification. Ed enjoys working with international partners and customers. Ed spent several years working in Europe and is an enthusiastic traveller. As a break from bidding he enjoys pursuing his interest in cars and driving.
Sandy has five years' experience in the event industry, having worked in an event agency that organized events with robots and new technologies all over Europe, which involved a lot of travel. Prior to joining CHAP she worked for a luxury car company, developing their strategy, managing their budgets and organising their attendance to show, product launches or conferences. Originally from France, Sandy has been living in England for several years and sees her role as CHAP's Event Manager as an opportunity to create networks and gatherings to ensure the development of tomorrow's agriculture for future generations. She lives in Oxford and will be based in Harpenden. Although Sandy is French, she prefers tea to coffee, and enjoys basketball and cooking. She is a keen traveller and has already notched up nine European countries and hopes to add to her list when COVID allows. Sandy also has a cat called Jared, who she says looks like the Grumpy Cat.
Sophie has joined the CHAP team after working in practice for the last 8 years, initially working on statutory accounts and latterly in outsourced finance roles. She is currently studying towards qualifying with ACCA. Coming from a farming background, Sophie has an inherent interest in the field (pun intended), so CHAP felt like the right company to join as she moved into industry. In her spare time she tries to get out to the hills as much as possible, so is often hiking in the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales.
Sarah has a strong operational and delivery background with experience across B2B, B2C, airline, technology, education, government and corporate sectors. She has worked with start-ups and SMEs through to £multi-billion organisations. Having worked as an independent consultant in Digital/Business Transformation for 10 years she has led a number of large-scale national and pan-European complex programme deliveries. Sarah holds Chartered Manager status with the Chartered Management Institute, as well as being a Fellow member of the Institute of Consulting. Sarah is a classical pilates enthusiast, spending much of her spare time practising in the studio. She also enjoys stand up paddle boarding (SUP) having caught the bug while travelling.
Job Titles:
- Events and Communications Manager
Nicole joins the CHAP team as Marketing Assistant. New to the field, she studied a Bachelor of Science majoring in Health, Safety, and Environment in her hometown of Perth, Western Australia. After finishing university, she went on to work at an underground gold mine on a fly-in-fly-out roster throughout the covid-pandemic. Once travel restrictions eased, she decided to move permanently to York, where her partner is from. She has now traded early morning swims in the ocean for cycling routes, sometimes off road, and music festivals that her partner performs at which occasionally gets in the way of her strength training.
In her role as Technical Marketing Manager, Andreea will be working closely with the Innovation and Marketing teams at CHAP to write and source compelling content, as well as building and maintaining the network of contributors. Previous to joining CHAP, Andreea worked in the medical communications sector where she successfully supported the delivery of highly engaging medical educational events to healthcare professionals worldwide. She has a BSc (Hons.) degree in Microbiology and a PhD in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, both from University of Glasgow. During her spare time Andreea is a photographer and enjoys exploring new places with her camera, swimming and watching the latest David Attenborough documentaries.
Fraser has more than 30 years' commercial experience (sales, marketing, and business and market development) in the Bioscience industry. He has lived and worked in the UK, Germany and the US in a variety of sectors that included President of Hoefer Pharmacia, San Francisco, Vice-President of Service, Americas for Amersham Biosciences and Global GM for Scientific Asset Services for GE Healthcare, Life Science Division. Fraser has taken leadership roles as Managing Director of BioCity Scotland and latterly as Managing Director of James Hutton Limited where the emphasis has been very much on the interface of academia, industry and government to drive industry lead Commercialisation of IP by building a Professional Services delivery approach.
Job Titles:
- Digital Marketing Executive
Monique brings 25 years' experience in negotiation, co-ordination and working closely with suppliers, to provide support in the areas of cost-effective print, distribution, market research, advertising and event solutions. Working alongside Senior Management Teams, Monique supports the commercial and marketing teams, providing tight budgetary management and control. A reliable team player, she is always willing to lend a hand. Monique loves spending time in France, enjoying the culture and way of life. Back home, she loves organising events and socialising with friends and family and taking care of her health - a Pilates mat or walking boots are always close to hand.
Rebecca is CHAP's Digital Marketing Executive. Her previous experience in Social Media Management, Marketing and Communications was gained working at York St John University and the York Walls Festival. She has a first class degree in English Literature and Media Studies. In her spare time she reaches for her guitar, having taught herself to play, and loves to read. When younger, she lived in the ‘Wheat State' of Kansas.
Katie is our HR Manager having joined CHAP in 2018 as Office Manager. Prior to CHAP Katie spent 10 years in commercial and administrative process improvement roles, working within the Education and MoD market sectors. Having successfully achieved her diploma in HRM Katie now looks after the Human Resources function in addition to supporting the executive team and Board. Katie loves to travel, is a big fan of Harry Potter and is learning Spanish.
Job Titles:
- National Reference Collection Technician, CABI
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Management Accountant
Before working in finance, Megan has spent time in just about every industry there is, from a four year term in the United States Air Force, to the world of academia achieving a postgraduate masters degree in history. Megan has worked in a tech support call centre, landscaping, and food service. It wasn't until 2019 that she discovered an affinity for accountancy and finance and started working full time in accounts administration. Now with several years of on the job experience, coupled with formal AAT qualifications, she is excited to work with CHAP to continue her professional development. Megan likes to spend her free time with her spouse and dog Ruby on countryside walks on nice days, or in the kitchen baking on rainy ones.