I hold an MA (Hons) in International Relations - Management from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, with an integrated year abroad that I pitched and won approval for. I gained an MPhil in Environmental Policy from the University of Cambridge that focused on Environmental Economics and Environmental Law, while my PhD is in Sustainable Ethical Aquaculture Trade from the University of Stirling School of Management in conjunction with the Institute of Aquaculture and the WorldFish centre, Penang, Malaysia. My research focused on the configuration and dynamics of seafood value chains, and shaping institutional frameworks to unlock the potential of developing countries to create greater value.
The theoretical and practical frameworks gained within these degrees have led to professional experience across policy-making in the public and private sectors, as well the foundation for those decisions through academic research. The multi-disciplinary projects I now lead support businesses, NGOs and government sectors to commit to and act on building sustainability into how they engage with oceans, with the ultimate aim of inspiring and implementing change through human-centric initiatives, supportive technologies and a politically-enabling environment. My professional experience ranges from Parliamentary Assistant and Fisheries Advisor to the Chairman of the Fisheries Committee in the European Parliament, Brussels, during the pivotal Reform of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy, to Sustainability Coordinator for Unilever ICF in London, where I project-managed the revision and implementation of a company-wide revised fisheries procurement strategy in order to promote responsible fisheries, support sustainability aims and achieve company CSR goals. I also managed, led and authored a 3-year innovative and ground-breaking study on Globalisation in the Fishing Industry, while working as an economist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France. As a freelance contractor I led projects with diverse stakeholders throughout seafood supply chains to identify policies that promote sustainable growth, reduce poverty and enhance food security, while preserving the ecosystems on which the sector depends, notably in developing and emerging economies, including Community Social Sustainability Standards for WWF’s Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogues, Lead researcher and co-author of an assessment of the gap between future demand and fish supply in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands for the USAID-funded Coral Triangle Initiative at the WorldFish Center, Penang, and Lead researcher on the cost to society of a lack of governance in fisheries, funded by a scholarship from the Swiss government, the Embassy of France to the United Kingdom and hosted by the University of Sciences-Po, Paris. |
Before returning to academia, I was Development Director at the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF), an international NGO working to secure the supply of high quality, responsibly-sourced tuna and promote the sustainability of small-scale fisheries, where I was responsible for the network of 60 commercial and non-profit members, championing sustainability in seafood supply chains, and leading initiatives based on the needs of seafood suppliers and producers as well as buyers. I led and wrote the IPNLF Social Sustainability Manifesto, resulting in public commitments from 7 international companies to incorporate social responsibility into seafood supply chains and was responsible for grant management, budgets, reporting and donor relations.
As an Assistant Professor at the University of Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh, Scotland, where I am the Founder and Director of the Fair Food Hub, providing the evidence-base and co-created solutions with industry partners for positive change for seafood workers along supply chains, long-term behavioural change in consumer preferences, and a focus on wellbeing and alternative measures of business success. I combine this role with that of Associate Director for Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), a private development company, where I lead the Economic Growth team's Sustainable Markets work, with a technical focus on climate change, sustainable agriculture, greening economies and market systems and driving their integration into DAI's programming around the development of inclusive and sustainable market systems (Making Markets Work for the Poor).
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