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President

John Spence, OBE, DL  

John was born in Edinburgh and educated at George Watson's College. He studied Economics at Trinity College Dublin and later attended Harvard Business School.  He joined Lloyds Bank in 1972 and left in 2005 as Director of Policy and Risk. Senior appointments included Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland, and managing director of retail distribution. John enjoys a mixture of appointments in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Non-Executive directorships include HM Revenue & Customs, where he chairs the Audit Committee; he plays the same role for the Commissioners of the Church of England. He was President of Enable (Scotland's Mencap) from 1999 until 2010. He serves on the boards of the Money Advice Service and Anglia Ruskin University and is Finance Chairman of Business in the Continuity. He is Deputy Chairman of Business in the Community.

Awarded the MBE in 1999, for services to the community, and the OBE in 2006 for services to charity, he is one of HRH Prince of Wales's Business Ambassadors for Corporate Responsibility and a Deputy Lieutenant for Essex. But he still finds time for his swimming, gardening and cooking; for his enjoyment of sport and the theatre; and for his motorcycling!

The Board

Jeremy Peat, BA, MSc, FRSE, OBE - Chair of the Board

Jeremy is Director of the Edinburgh-based David Hume Institute, on the board of Scottish Enterprise, a member of the Competition Commission, a board member of the Signet Accreditations Society and a member of the Policy Evaluation Committee of the Economic and Social Research Council. Previously he was Governor and then Trustee for Scotland on the board of the BBC, Senior Economic Adviser at the Scottish Office from 1985 to 1993 and Group Chief Economist at RBS from 1993 to 2005. He writes a column on economic matters for the 'Herald' and is an occasional contributor to the 'Scotsman'. His interest in animals was stimulated by living in Botswana for three and a half years in the early 1980s and subsequent safari holidays in parts of Africa.

 

Prof Colin Galbraith, BSC, PhD - Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of Scientific Advisory Committee

Colin is Director of his environmental consultancy, dealing with a range of environmental issues in Scotland and at the global level. He was until recently the Director of Policy and Advice in Scottish Natural Heritage. In this capacity he was the principal adviser on policy, scientific and technical matters for the organisation for over twelve years. Colin has been involved with the United Nations for a number of years and has made contributions through the Convention on Migratory Species and to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in particular. This work area involves him in high profile nature conservation issues including the conservation of the African Elephant and developing new international agreements to assist the conservation of Albatross, and in reviewing the impact of climate change on the ecology of threatened species. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). He has been an Honorary Professor in Conservation Science at the University of Stirling since 2002. Colin lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two children.

 

Karen Carlton, MA, D. Univ., FCIPD  - Chair of the Nominations Committee

Karen Carlton is the Managing Partner of Carlton Edgar, a company specialising in director development. She was Scotland's first Public Appointments Commissioner, a post she held from June 2004 - May 2012. As Commissioner, Karen was the regulator responsible for ensuring that the Scottish Ministers use a fair and open process when making appointments to the boards of public bodies such as Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Karen is an experienced non-executive director; she previously sat on the board of the Broadcast Equality and Training Regulator and provides governance advice to charities. Prior to her appointment as
Commissioner Karen worked as Managing Director of an organisation development
consultancy and was the first director of Investors in People Scotland, where she established the IIP assessment and recognition procedures for Scotland. Her early career was spent in the service industries and in retailing.

 

Dr Tom Mitchell, CA - Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee

Tom is a Chartered Accountant who specialises in Corporate Governance and Risk in the regulated organisations.  Tom brings the commercial experience and international perspective he has gained over the past 20 years working in finance, governance and operational roles in Central & Eastern Europe and Asia with KPMG, PWC, Bank of Bermuda and Bank of Scotland.  Coming from a science background, Tom's interests lie in the interaction between plant and animal communities.  He is married and lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two children. 

  

Sandy Batho, MA - Board Member

Sandy has had a career in HR and has worked at a very senior level in some significant organisations including Royal Mail, TransAmerica, SAPPI and Esso UK.  He was also Director of HR and Change for the National Trust for Scotland, working with another large charity with a significant member base and a large team of volunteers.  He recently worked with Northern Rock during its transition phase to its point of sale to Virgin Money.  Sandy has a keen interest in conservation, has a passion for ornithology and has been a supporter of Edinburgh Zoo since childhood.

George Brechin - Board Member

George joined the Board on 1 January 2012. He retired on 31 March from the post of CEO of NHS Fife, having worked at CEO level in the NHS in Scotland for almost 20 years, including 8 years as Chair of the NHS Scotland Management Side, responsible for HR matters affecting over 100,000 people.  A long-standing member of RZSS, George is well used to setting clear strategic direction and reporting at Board level.  He understands the different roles of executive and non-executive and brings experience to the board in the following areas: Government and Public Affairs, Media, Finance, Risk and HR.  George hopes in particular to contribute to the Society's challenge of balancing the provision of education and information / experience with the demands of conservation and research.

Peter Budd  -  Board Member

Peter Budd is a Director of Ove Arup & Partners Ltd, Chairman of Arup Scotland and Leader of Arup's airport business globally.  Peter graduated from Dundee University in 1971 with Honours in Civil Engineering and pursued a career with Arup designing and supervising construction of civil engineering, structural and multi-disciplinary projects in the UK and overseas.  His experience includes tours of duty with Arup in East Asia, USA, the Middle East and Central Africa.  He participated actively in Manchester's activities in the run up to and during the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and was Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Business Club Initiative.  His affiliations currently include - Chair, Airports Advisory Council, UKTI; Vice Chairman, China Britain Business Council; Member, University Court, University of Edinburgh.  Peter is married and lives in Fife.

Ken Dalton - Board Member

Ken retired in Sept 2011. His most recent positions were CEO of AECOM Building Engineering and CEO AECOM Europe and was a member of the Global Operations Board of AECOM which is a 45000 person New York listed Global professional technical services business. Ken graduated from Strathclyde University in 1970 in Environmental Engineering and has worked both nationally and internationally. Ken has a great commitment to people to get the best from the enterprise.  Ken was appointed to the Board of RZSS on the first of September this year and is excited by the opportunities and work undertaken by the charity He is currently Lord Dean of Guild of Edinburgh and, Lord President of the Deans of Guilds of Scotland. He retired as Master of the Merchant Company of Edinburgh last November. Ken is married to Marjorie and has two children Julie and Graham with interests in golf music art and theatre.

John Fitzgerald - Board Member

John is currently Head of Rewards at Standard Life Investments, where he manages pay, bonus and incentive arrangements for over 1,000 employees. John graduated from the University College Dublin with a first class BSc Honours degreee in Zoology, followed up by completing a five year post-graduate research study on fish physiology at Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory. In 1997, after four years in the hotel industry, he joined the Corporate Pensions department of AEGON financial services company. In 2003 he moved to the Human Resources department working in Policy & Employee Relations. Two years later his focus shifted to Reward and he became responsible for managing AEGON's employee benefits. During this time he completed his CIPD post-graduate qualification in HR before moving to Standard Life in 2010. John has been a member of the RZSS since 2003 and became a patron in 2010. He frequently visits both Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park with his wife.

Douglas Hutchison, BVMS, MRCVS  -  Board Member

Douglas was co-opted to the Board of RZSS in 2010.  Douglas is an investor in start-up companies involved publishing, software, biotechnology and intellectual property licensing.  He originally qualified as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Glasgow in 1980 and then held senior management roles, including CEO, in the veterinary pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.  In 1990 he started a communications company incorporating market-leading publications, database marketing and event management for pharmaceutical companies which was successfully sold to a global group in 2000.  He is a Non-Executive Partner in Odgers Berndtson, and Chairman or Non-Executive Director of a number of other companies.

 

Tessa McGregor, MA  -  Board Member

Tessa is an award winning, freelance conservationist and environmental journalist with over 20 years experience working on carnivore/prey species conservation and monitoring and human-wildlife conflict in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. Tessa is a recognised expert on big cat conservation having spent years in the field, undertaking research, consultancy and advocacy. She has a passionate commitment to resolving human-wildlife conflict issues. Areas of expertise include: wildlife surveying, conservation, human-wildlife conflict resolution, eco-tourism, training and education.   Field work and science are mixed with media: broadcasting for the BBC Natural History Unit, TV and print journalism. Projects include Tiger conservation in the Indian subcontinent; Snow Leopard/mountain ungulate conservation in the Altai Republic; Arabian Leopard conservation in Oman/Yemen; wildlife conservation and ecotourism in Asia and Cetacean ecotourism/surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, Oman and Tonga. Recent media and other projects include reporting live for the BBC Natural History Unit series 'World on the Move' and 'Saving Species',  contributing writer to 'Tigers of the World' 2^nd Edition  and Guest lecturer Edinburgh University on the topic of reintroduction of predatory mammals. 

Christine Patch, MA, MCIPR - Board Member

Christine is Head of Corporate Communications at NHS Education for Scotland (NHS Scotland's education and training body).  She is a corporate communications specialist with over 30 years experience in the National Health, higher education, private and research and development sectors.  This has developed her experience in a range of strategic and operational communications activities at a senior level, including public affairs, customer relations management, media relations, event management, e-communications and branding development.  She has also had a long interest in female entrepreneurship which led to her being President of the Association of Scottish Businesswomen and she remains a member of the local Edinburgh Businesswomen's Network, as well as the UK-wide organization, Network. She is a Trustee of the Scottish Outdoor Education Centres, Scotland's largest provider of residential outdoor education. Christine is married and lives in Edinburgh. 

  

Prof David Taylor, MA, PhD, VetMB, DipECVPH, DipECPHM, MRCVS  - Board Member 

David Taylor is Emeritus Professor of Veterinary Bacteriology and Public Health in the University of Glasgow and has recently retired from the Veterinary School where he was Head of the Division of Animal Production and Public Health. He qualified as a vet at Cambridge University, and worked at the Glasgow Veterinary School from 1972 to 2009 with a variety of animals, birds and fish. He has an interest in developing the Society's research and education programmes and in maintaining the health and welfare of the collection.  

Prof. Roger Wheater, OBE, FRSE - Board Member

Roger was the CEO of RZSS for 26 years.  During that time he was Chairman of the World Zoo Organisation, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria.  Roger is currently a Trustee and Board Member of Dynamic Earth and the Tweed Foundation.

John Wotton, OBE - Board Member

John has been associated with the RZSS since an introduction while he was Chair of the Life Sciences Committee of the Singapore British Business Council. John was awarded an OBE in 2004 for services to healthcare at home and abroad.  With 50 years' experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries he has considerable experience in general management and was until 1997 Chief Executive of a publically quoted healthcare and scientific company. Along with his international experience he is well versed in the rigours of corporate governance, financial disciplines, team building and budget performance.

His interests lie in life sciences and wild life conservation.  John is based in Devon and is also a Trustee of the Dartmoor Zoological Park based near Plymouth.

Tel: 0131 334 9171 | Fax: 0131 314 0384 | Email: info@rzss.org.uk