Professor Mary Bownes, BSc D.Phil OBE FRSE FRES FRSB – Board Chair
Mary is an Emerita Professor of Developmental Biology at the University of Edinburgh. She is also a trustee of the National Museums of Scotland, and Program Convenor for the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Mary ran a team investigating genetics, developmental biology, molecular biology, and endocrinology. She also taught these subjects at all levels to undergraduates and trained a large number of PhD students. She became Head of the School of Cell and Molecular and Biology. She was involved in a lot of initiatives relating to the training of postgraduate students and in public engagement, not just with science but across the whole university sector in Edinburgh. She also established strategic partnerships for the university with organisations in Scotland that are involved in education and research including RZSS. Mary went on to be senior vice principal at the University of Edinburgh. |
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Kerry Falconer, MBA, FIOBS – Board Member – Chair of the Business Advisory GroupKerry retired 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. Married to Graham, she lives in Edinburgh. Kerry joined RZSS board in August 2014 |
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Sandy Batho, MA, FCIPD – Board Member – Chair of the Nominations & Remuneration Committee and Board Member
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Peter Budd – Board MemberPeter is currently a Non-Executive Director with Arup, having previously worked with the firm for over 45 years in a full time capacity as a Chartered civil/structural engineer. His experience included tours of duty in the USA, the Middle East, East Asia and Central Africa. He was involved in many of Arup’s most prestigious projects and set up and ran successful Arup businesses in the UK and in North America. From 1998 to 2016 Peter also led Arup’s Global Aviation business. Peter has been involved in a number of public sector initiatives promoting the profession and international trade and was appointed CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list July 2017 for services relating to developing Sino-British trade. |
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John Fitzgerald BSc FCIPD – Board Member
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Prof. Roger Wheater, OBE, D.Univ, C.BIOL, FRSB, FRSA, FRSGS, FRZSS, FRSE – Board Member
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Dr Karen Blackport, PhD MBA – Vice-chair
Dr Karen Blackport is an experienced scientist and businesswoman, with over 20 years of experience in the international life sciences industry, gained from senior roles within private and public organisations in the UK and Australia, including Kyowa Kirin International and the University of Queensland, Brisbane. Karen has recently refocused on environmental sustainability and conservation, establishing an environmental consultancy business, which aims to engage with and support individuals and organisations in reconnecting with the importance of biodiversity and the environment. Karen is a prior member of the Government's Scottish Science Advisory Council and is a co-founder of Alfacyte Limited (now ILC Therapeutics). She is educated to PhD level (Glasgow: Biochemistry), has an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and is currently studying for a MSc in Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health at 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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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 MemberKaren is a veterinary surgeon and senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. She is originally from the East Coast of the USA, where she took an undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. She did her Veterinary Degree and PhD in Veterinary Pharmacology at the University of Glasgow. Karen then worked in the University of Liverpool Equine Hospital as a lecturer for three years before moving back to Glasgow to take up a position at the Weipers Centre Equine Hospital at the university. She also worked as a racecourse vet for 15 years. |
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Dr Richard Rutnagur – BA (Oxon), PhD. (Glasgow) – Board Member
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Katie Lennox – BS(Hons) – TrusteeKatie is finalising her masters degree, specialising in animal welfare science, ethics and law at the University of Glasgow, where she also achieved a first class honours in veterinary sciences. She has spent the last 11 years volunteering with various animal organisations and charities throughout Scotland, working with a wide range of species and situations. Katie currently resides in Glasgow with her partner, cats, and guinea pigs. She also creates digital art and design, and accepts portrait and logo commissions from clients all over the world. |
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Dr Andrew Kitchener – Honorary FellowDr Andrew Kitchener is the Principal Curator of Vertebrates at National Museums Scotland, where he is responsible for the care and development of the vertebrate collections. He is involved in a wide range of research, including the effects of captivity on endangered species, with a particular interest in environmental enrichment and skeletal pathologies. Andrew has had a long association with RZSS; he has been a member of the Animal Welfare and Ethics Group since 1992 and has been working in close collaboration with the WildGenes Lab on the Scottish Wildcat Conservation Action Plan and on establishing biobanks at RZSS and National Museums Scotland as part of CryoArks. Andrew is a member of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, and the IUCN Equid Specialist Group, the Saving Wildcats Advisory Group and the Scottish Marine Animals Strandings Scheme Steering Group. He is Chair of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and is an Honorary Fellow of RZSS. |
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Fiona Davis, BCom Hons – Chair of the Audit and Risk CommitteeA chartered accountant by training with a degree in business studies and French from the University of Edinburgh, Fiona has held a variety of different senior finance roles, having been the Chief Financial Officer for various significant business groupings within RBS, including personal banking, wealth management, business and corporate banking. Since retirement, Fiona has taken up a number of trustee roles, including vice chair of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and director of Earlsferry Town Hall Ltd. Passionate about animals, Fiona was also honorary treasurer at the Scottish SPCA, retiring after her second term in 2021. Fiona enjoys photography, choral singing, art, theatre, golf, reading, languages, organising charity events and cabinet making. |