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Jeremy Peat, OBE, BA, MSc, FRSE - Chair of the BoardJeremy is a 'Herald' columnist, Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde and an active Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . Previously he was a Board member of Scottish Enterprise (2011-2017); a member of the Competition Commission/Competition and Markets Authority (2005-2016); Director of the David Hume Institute (2005-2014); Governor and then Trustee for Scotland on the board of the BBC (2005-2011); Senior Economic Adviser at the Scottish Office (1985-1993); and Group Chief Economist at RBS (1993 – 2005). His life-long interest in animals was further stimulated by living in Botswana for three and a half years in the early 1980s and sustained by subsequent safari holidays in the amazing Okavango Delta and elsewhere. |
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George Brechin, OBE, BSc, CIHM - Vice-Chair of the Board
George joined the Board on 1 January 2012; he is member of the Audit and Risk Committee, and was appointed Vice-Chair of the Board after the 2015 AGM. He retired in 2012 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. He returned to the NHS as interim CEO of the State Hospital at Carstairs between January 2014 and March 2015. A long-standing member of RZSS, George brings experience to the Board in the following areas: Government and Public Affairs, Finance, Risk and HR. He has a particular interest in the challenge of balancing the provision of education and information / experience with the demands of conservation and research, and in ensuring that RZSS lives up to its Scotland-wide role. Nominated by RZSS to the Council of the Zoological Society of Glasgow and the West of Scotland, he is currently its President. He is also a Board Member of Food Standards Scotland and of the Health and Safety Executive, and chairs the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Board. |
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Dr Tom Mitchell, CA - Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee and Board Member
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Sandy Batho, MA, FCIPD - Chair of the Nominations & Remuneration Committee and Board Member
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Kerry Falconer, MBA, FIOBS - Chair of the Business Advisory Committee and Board MemberKerry retired in 2015 from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group after 38 years service in a number of areas including Financial Markets, Retail Banking and Group Office. Her most recent role was Managing Director, Banking for Adam & Company a private banking arm of RBS. She graduated from Edinburgh University with an MBA and is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers. She was, until recently, a Vice President of the Institute of Bankers where she also chaired the Audit Committee. She has been involved with RZSS for 5 years as a Trustee and also chairs the Business Advisory Group. Married to Graham, she lives in Edinburgh. Kerry joined RZSS board in August 2014 |
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Peter Budd - Board Member
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John Fitzgerald BSc FCIPD - Board Member
John is a Human Resources professional with a long-standing interest in wildlife and conservation. John graduated from University College Dublin with a first class BSc Honours degree in Zoology, followed by five years’ post-graduate research study into fish physiology at Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory. John has spent more than twenty years working in the Financial Services sector. He spent 13 years with AEGON in a variety of departments, starting in Corporate Pensions before moving into Human Resources. During this time he completed his CIPD post-graduate qualification in HR. John is currently Head of Operational Reward at Standard Life Aberdeen, where he manages pay, bonus and incentive arrangements for over 6,000 employees. He has been a member of the RZSS since 2003. He lives in Edinburgh and is a frequent visitor, with his wife, to both Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park. |
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Prof. Roger Wheater, OBE, D.Univ, C.BIOL, FRSB, FRSGS, FRZSS, FRSE - Board Member
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Dr Karen Blackport, PhD MBA - Board Member
Dr Karen Blackport is an experienced life scientist and business development professional, with over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, gained from senior roles within private and public organisations. Karen is currently Director of Business Development at Kyowa Kirin International, an international biopharmaceutical company, where she is responsible for in-licensing and acquisition of new product and company opportunities to build the portfolio in Western markets. Previously Karen spent a year working at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, where she was responsible for establishing and maintaining commercial partnerships across the globe, to develop and commercialise the University's portfolio of health programmes. Karen is a prior member of the Government's Scottish Science Advisory Council and is a co-founder of allergy vaccine developer Alfacyte Limited. She is educated to PhD level (Glasgow: Biochemistry) and has a MBA from the University of Edinburgh. Karen has been involved with RZSS in some capacity for most of her life, from conducting research into environmental enrichment in Diana monkeys at Edinburgh Zoo as a student, a volunteer and has been a Trustee since 2014. Karen lives near Earlston in the Scottish Borders with her husband Jamie and their two young children. |
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Prof. Alan Miller, BSc, PhD, CPhys, FRSE, FInstP, FIEEE, FOSA - Board Member
He has enjoyed regular visits to Edinburgh Zoo since childhood, subsequently with his children, and now with his grandchildren, and played a role in the creation of Living Links while in St Andrews. Now as Emeritus Professor he organises leadership programmes and promotes public engagement of science in initiatives that foster innovative collaborations across all disciplines and between diverse organisations including RZSS. Since May 2015 he was appointed CEO and Graduate School Director of the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), a strategic partnership between 8 Scottish universities. |
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Professor Mary Bownes, BSc D.Phil OBE FRSE FRES FRSB - Board Member
Over her career she has been on numerous committees including chairing a BBSRC strategy panel, a widening access group with SFC and chairing the Young People’s Committee at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She has completed terms on the Boards of Scottish Association for Marine Science and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. She established was Director of the Scottish Initiative for Biotechnology Education until 2018 and established and led the Edinburgh Beltane, a public engagement initiative on behalf of all the Universities in Edinburgh which encourages researchers to engage with the public and policy makers until 2017. Mary was convenor of the Directors of Graduate Schools for Universitas 21, and a member of the graduate group for the League of European Research Universities (LERU) which provides policy advice about developing research students in research intensive universities to the European Union. She most recently focused on setting up strategic partnerships with public facing institutions across the city. |
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Deborah. J. Long Ph.D. B.A. (Hons). FRSGS - Board Member
As a Palaeoecologist, her outlook is based in a detailed understanding of ecological relationships that have developed over millennia and are deeply influenced by human activities. It is her expertise in plant ecology and vegetation history that underpins her contributions to ongoing developments in ecosystem and habitat conservation. She interprets ecology for a wide range of audiences through different media from print to radio, TV and lectures. She lives in Perthshire. |
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Dr Karen MacEachern, BSc, BVMS, PhD, Cert EM (Int Med), MRCVS - Board Member
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Dr Richard Rutnagur – BA (Oxon), PhD. (Glasgow) - Board Member
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