How we're run

Gill joined Cornwall Wildlife Trust when she moved back to the south west in 2016 (she's originally from East Devon) and lives in North Cornwall near Boyton. She is currently Secretary to the Trust's Board. Gill has around five acres surrounding her home that she is developing as a wildlife-friendly garden and nature-friendly space. She has worked with Devon Wildlife Trust on the restoration of a meadow and hedgerows. Although she was a career civil servant, she has always been interested in - and in one way or another involved in - activities around wildlife and conservation. 

Gill is an experienced trustee and a charity governance specialist. She was formerly on the board of Phoenix Futures, a large charity working in the drug and alcohol rehabilitation field and with a strong record in conservation work under the 'recovery through nature' banner. She was also a trustee and the business manager of a London allotment site where she ran projects involving tenants and community groups in building and maintaining wildlife habitats around the site as well as raising awareness of wildlife-related issues in the locality.  

Currently she's particularly interested in how future uncertainties around commercial farming post-Brexit will impact land use in Cornwall - and how responses to new regulatory and subsidy regimes may bring new challenges for habitat conservation and development. 

Karen has a legal and commercial background qualifying as a lawyer with Linklaters and practising there for several years as a commercial lawyer. She worked for BG Group Plc from 1985 to 2011 obtaining many years of international management experience across a wide range of disciplines. For BG Group Karen worked on several major projects and became Deputy General Counsel in 1997. Subsequently she had commercial and country management roles for BG Group in Trinidad and Canada.

Karen was an Environment Agency Board Member for six years from 2012 and chaired the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, taking a particular interest in the work of the Devon Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly area, as well as the Solent and South Downs area.

From 2014 until 2023 Karen was a governor of Cornwall College and was Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee for part of that time, and also a member of the Remuneration and Search and Governance Committees.

Karen was a Board Member of the Local Nature Partnership from 2019 until 2022, taking a particular interest in the development of green skills.

Married with two grown up daughters, her interests include hiking, rowing, skiing, sailing and working with environment groups including the National Trust and the Roseland Environment Action Team.

Oliver found a derelict farmhouse near Camelford in 1998 and has spent the years since then restoring it as a family home. The farm has been tenanted and farmed for beef cattle until this year. A new plan for the land will focus more on environmental and ecological aspects. Prior to being able to spend more time in Cornwall Oliver had an initial spell in the army serving in the Far East with a Gurkha regiment; and latterly a 35 year career in financial services principally in London and with time spent in New York, Milan, Istanbul and Eastern Europe.

Raoul is a keen amateur naturalist and loves spending time in the valleys and heaths of West Cornwall, bird watching, botanising, and mothing. Originally from St Ives he now lives in St Just with his wife and family.

Raoul has a broad professional background, working in both the public and private sector. His career has encompassed work in the Armed Forces; finance, accountancy, and corporate recovery (with KPMG); and in the education sector. A qualified chartered accountant, Raoul stepped down as the Principal and CEO of the Cornwall College Group in 2018 and now provides independent advisory services with a focus on leadership, organisational structure, and business development. Whilst at Cornwall College he was lucky enough to be involved in many innovative initiatives including the expansion of Duchy College; mergers with St Austell and Bicton Colleges; the creation of the Concorde Group and Cornwall College Business; and he played a key role in the growth in Higher education in Cornwall as part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall. Known for his work in initiating partnerships he believes in the power of collaborative action.

Raoul is passionate about providing a wider contribution to Cornwall and has served in a range of voluntary and community boards, including CPR Regeneration Company, Cornwall Food Foundation, Pool Academy and is currently a Director of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce.

Louise grew up on a farm near Penzance and spent much of her spare time helping with the cattle or with growing and harvesting the vegetable crops. The love of the land and of Cornwall was evident from the start!

After gaining a degree in Agriculture from Wye College, part of the University of London, she pursued a career in the horticulture industry, working closely with growers and the supermarkets to ensure standards were met at every stage of production. This included interesting experiences of food production in Europe and in New Zealand.

She found her way back to Penzance where she now lives, with her husband, on a farm rented from The Bolitho Estate. The family run business is made up of dairy and beef cattle as well as cereal crops and some agri-environment options. She has recently turned her part time job, making bespoke soft furnishings, into a new business venture which she hopes will give her some time away from muddy wellies.

Louise’s particular interest is in exploring how farmers can continue to produce food alongside developing wildlife habitats for a profitable and sustainable future.

Merlin was born and raised on a farm made up of upland grazing and rare temperate rainforest in the heart of Bodmin Moor.  After a career in the British Army he spent a number of years working around the world as an operations consultant.  He returned to the farm to begin transforming it for the next epoch of environmental land management.  With his wife, Lizzie, he has embarked upon a multi-generational restoration programme that includes planting over 100,000 trees, reintroducing a range of absent native species whilst protecting and improving the mycelial network that connects the forest.  They have also founded Cabilla Cornwall, a forest bathing retreat, that brings people into the temperate rainforest to improve their mental health, learn and feel better.

Paul and his wife Sally live 500 feet up on Tregonning Hill where they overlook Mounts Bay and on a clear day can see Wolf Rock. They are formulating a plan to rid the area that they own of invasive species and replace them with native ones as well as restoring the Cornish hedges. They share a love of cetaceans and whenever possible take their small boat into Falmouth Bay and off the Lizard looking for these wonderful animals that grace our Cornish waters. They have been lucky enough to have had confirmed sightings of Minke whales and possible sightings of humpbacks.

Prior to moving to Cornwall Paul had a career as a solicitor working in both the public and private sector. Having qualified in Somerset and after a spell as a legal officer in the Army he has advised government departments, landowners and NGOs (including other wildlife trusts) on the implementation and applicability of schemes under the Common Agricultural Policy. He has also advised on land tenure and land management issues within a rural setting as well as prosecuting wildlife crimes. Towards the end of his legal career Paul took on responsibility for compliance with various regulatory regimes within his firm as well as taking a more prominent management role, eventually ending up as senior partner.

Jo is Director of Communications at Blue Marine Foundation, an ocean conservation charity with global reach and impact. She brings a wealth of expertise and expertise in strategic communications and has overseen some of the most significant environmental media campaigns on ocean protection in recent years. 

Jo spent more than a decade in national and regional press before turning to conservation and has received a host of awards in recognition of her work.

She lives on the north coast of Cornwall with her young family, who can all be frequently found in, on, or near the sea. As a result of her love of the ocean, Jo is particularly passionate about Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s marine conservation work. 

Rosie Woodroffe is a Professor of Ecology and Conservation Biology. Born and raised in Falmouth, she left Cornwall to go to university, and went on to pursue an academic career focusing on ways to promote the coexistence of people and wildlife. She has worked extensively on the conservation of African carnivores, especially African wild dogs, but in the UK she is best known for her work on the management of badgers to control bovine tuberculosis. She has won multiple awards for her work, including the Marsh Awards for both Ecology and Conservation; she was specially commended by in the Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science, and placed on the BBC Wildlife Power List. A Professor at the Zoological Society of London, she moved back to Cornwall in 2007, and continues to lead the Cornwall Badger Project, promoting coexistence of people and wildlife in Cornwall.

Veryan grew up in Constantine, near the Helford River, but worked away from the county for 25 years building her knowledge of directing charities and philanthropy. Post pandemic, she and her husband Bob, plus Beau their cocker spaniel, returned to their home county and settled in North Cornwall near Bude.

Veryan started her marketing and fundraising career at Surrey Wildlife Trust and treasures many happy memories from her time there, when the organisation took on all of Surrey County Council’s green spaces. Veryan then further developed her career by moving to the healthcare sector, where she directed NHS charities raising millions for capital appeals, including two new cancer treatment centres. Following her time with the NHS, Veryan joined the independent school sector, where she led the charitable activities for two leading boarding schools.

She then made the move into the Higher Education sector and led the philanthropy team responsible for major gift fundraising, for the University of Exeter, before joining the University of St Andrews. Veryan works for this prestigious Scottish university mostly from her home in Cornwall and is responsible for building a strategic Trusts and Foundations fundraising programme, to contribute significantly to the university’s £300million appeal. Veryan has also run her own consultancy business working for a variety of nonprofit organisations.

Growing up in Cornwall contributed to Veryan’s early passion for protecting our natural environment, but it has been her work securing philanthropic gifts for world leading research in connection to the ecological crisis and climate emergency, that has inspired her further.

She enjoys wildlife friendly gardening, cooking with ingredients from the veg plot, walking and having a quick dip in the sea every month of the year (no wetsuit!).

Nick is an award-winning creative director and marketeer working strategically in brand development. A specialist in digital communication and MARTECH as well as brand strategy, art direction and commercial leadership, Nick has a background in delivering highly effective digital and offline marketing campaigns for national and international clients across a wide range of sectors. Nick currently works for a group of lifestyle hospitality companies with sites across the UK. Nick is a keen surfer of over 30 years, and loves to spend time with his young family outdoors in Cornwall.

Richard has been in and around the political, environmental, public sector, PR and communications world for 25 years.

Starting in the House of Commons as an MP’s researcher, Richard became a spin doctor and helped shape and run numerous election campaigns for local, regional and national politicians.

He then went to work for cross party lobbying organisation for local councils, working in the heart of Westminster with Lords, Baronesses, MPs, council leaders and policy influencers. His team won the coveted PR Public Sector Team of the Year award.

Richard holds a Masters in Disaster Management of Environmental Hazards and has lectured at the University of South Wales teaching M-level students risk, disaster management, communications & PR, behavioural change and nudge theory, politics, leadership and management. He also led student visits to developing countries to help them understand climate change and mitigation and environmental protection.

Moving to Cornwall in 2017, Richard fell in love with the Duchy’s people, coast and countryside. He became a youth homeless charity trustee in 2020 and a Marazion Town Councillor in 2021.

His passions outside of helping protect the environment include tornado chasing, unusual travel, ironman triathlons and professional multi-day cycle tour-guiding through Europe.