By 
Wednesday 25th January
17:30 – 18.30
Live on TEAMS (joining link below)
Are you interested in a career where environmental issues or conservation lie at the heart of what you do? Do you want to pursue a career in sustainability?
Join us to hear from our panel of Kent alumni now working in roles that enhance and protect our natural environment.
We will have speakers from a wide range of professions such as Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer, Research Analyst in Wildlife Crime and Conservation, Farming and Land Management Adviser and Rivers Project Officer. Working in organisations like Natural England, Rivers Trust, Climate Impact Partners and in local council.
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Speakers include:
Mitchell Rae – Farming and Land Management Adviser at Natural England
Mitchell is the Lead Adviser in Farming and Land Management at Natural England. His role is focused on providing advice and funding to help farmers and landowners create, restore and manage habitats on their land. Mitchell also works with farmers to help them reduce the risk of pollution to water and air by changing their farming practices or improving their infrastructure. He works across Kent, with a particular focus on the North Kent region and the River Stour catchment (the river that runs through Canterbury). Mitchell holds a Master’s (Distinction) in Conservation Biology and a First Class BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Loughborough University.
Lauren Young – Research Analyst in Wildlife Crime and Conservation at Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI)
Lauren Young is currently a PhD Candidate in Biodiversity Management at Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent. Alongside her studies she is also a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Her research is concentrated on combatting environmental crime and addressing unsustainable uses of natural resources worldwide. Her work has investigated transnational organised criminal networks engaged in environmental crime, cyber-enabled wildlife crime in the UK and Southeast Asia, and illegal wildlife trade strategies and supply chains in Eastern and Southern Africa. Lauren has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s “Costing the Earth” and regularly authors op-eds on environmental crime and climate change. In a voluntary capacity, she also helps to manage and coordinate a conservation project in the Peruvian Amazon. She holds an MSc (Distinction) in Conservation and International Wildlife Trade from DICE, and a BA (Hons) in History from University College London. She is also a visiting lecturer at the University of West London.
Lou Sykes – Catchment Officer at Rivers Trust
Lou is the Catchment Officer at South East Rivers Trust, with previous experience from Thames21 and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Her role is focussed on managing Catchment Partnerships and projects to help maintain and improve both the water environment and surrounding land for both people and nature. Alongside this, she is also the Creative Director of A Focus on Nature, the UK’s youth nature network, providing a voice for the youth conservation movement. She holds an MRes in Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation from University College London (UCL), and a BSc (Hons) Wildlife Conservation from DICE.
Sherah Beckley – Client Solutions Manager at Climate Impact Partners
As Global Client Solutions Manager, Sherah leads a portfolio of clients across the globe, to help them meet their climate action goals and to deliver value from their programmes. She has over ten years’ experience driving and implementing sustainability initiatives globally, with a diverse and international background both studying and working in Ghana, Finland, and the UK. Sherah previously worked for Thomson Reuters as part of their global Corporate Responsibility & Inclusion team where she led a network of environmental ambassadors and drove external thought leadership as Editor of the Thomson Reuters Sustainability site. Focused on embedding the Sustainable Development Goals into the business, her efforts were recognised in 2018 by the Financial Times and HERoes Champions of Women in Business, as a Top 50 Female Future Leader. She holds a BA Honours degree in Politics & International Relations from the University of Kent and a postgraduate certification in Sustainable Value Chains, from Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
Grace Couch – Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer at Swale Borough Council
Grace is the Climate and Ecological Emergency Project Officer at Swale Borough Council, with previous experience at the London Borough of Hackney and Sevenoaks Town Council. In this role she coordinates the council’s response to the climate emergency declaration, with a focus on EV charging infrastructure, transport solutions, staff training and community engagement, becoming an MJ Awards national ‘Rising Star’ in June 2022. As a Kent Politics and International Relations graduate, Grace is involved in local activism, as well as sitting on the trustee board of Maidstone Homeless Care.