Stephanie Rhodes

Steph Rhodes is the Delivery Director for the Nature for Climate Fund at the Forestry Commission. She graduated in forestry in France, where she initially worked, before joining Forest Research in 2006, then Forest Services in 2012. Her forestry experience builds on the research, policy and management perspectives.  She was previously Head of Policy and Strategy for Forestry Commission..

Richard Stanford, FC CEO

Richard Stanford joined the Forestry Commission as Chief Executive in August 2021. Richard has a longstanding passion for the environment and the countryside. His leadership skills, ambition and expertise are forefront as he steers the organisation at this pivotal time for nature, people, the environment and the economy. During a 35 year career in the British Army Richard served around the world in a range of roles and rose to the rank of Major General before starting his second career in the Forestry Commission.  Through his military roles he has built up considerable experience in operations, change management and organisational design.

Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, Network Rail Chair

Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, has been the Chair of Network Rail since July 2015, and Chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation since July 2017. Sir Peter was previously Commissioner of Transport for London for nearly 10 years. He started his transport career in 1975 as a London Transport graduate trainee. He is a trustee of London’s Transport Museum and of the Science Museum Group and Chair of the National Railway Museum Advisory Board. He was knighted in the 2013 New Year's Honours List, having been made CBE in 2006. He was introduced in the House of Lords in December 2022.

Dr Neil Strong, Biodiversity Strategy Mgr, Network Rail

Dr Neil Strong studied forestry and ecology as an undergraduate (Edinburgh) and a post-graduate (Portsmouth).  He is biodiversity strategy manager at Network Rail providing expertise and support on sustainable management of the lineside necessary to improve the safety and biodiversity of the rail network.  He has previously worked on management of lineside assets including vegetation and boundary measures.  His current focus is delivering guidance and tools to integrate the management of biodiversity on the rail network into existing practice.  This work has to take account not only of environmental but also social obligations on an estate where trains pass at up to 200kph.

Dr Anna Brown

Dr Anna Brown has been the Director of Forest Services since July 2022. Prior to this she was the Head of Plant Health Forestry and contingency at the Forestry Commission, responsible for leading a team delivering Plant Health Forestry operations for Great Britain and Tree Health operations in England. Previously she spent three years as the Head of Tree Health Policy and Practice for Forestry Commission Scotland and 15 years at Forest Research, where she led the ‘New and Emerging Pest and Pathogen’ and ‘Tree Health Diagnostic and Advisory’ Programmes. Before that she worked in the private sector. She has a BSc in Forestry from the University of Wales, Bangor and PhD from Imperial College, London.

Andrew Haines

Andrew Haines was appointed as Chief Executive and Board member of Network Rail in August 2018. Prior to this, he served as Chief Executive of the Civil Aviation Authority following a wide-ranging career in the rail industry, which included roles as Managing Director of South West Trains, and Managing Director of the Rail Division for First Group plc.

Following the publication of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail in May 2021, Andrew was also tasked with establishing interim arrangements for the creation of Great British Railways, alongside his role in Network Rail.

Sara Lom

Sara Lom is CEO of The Tree Council, the national charity that brings everyone together for the love of trees. The Tree Council acts as a ‘critical friend’ to Network Rail and delivers two major community planting programmes in partnership with them, with more than 250,000 trees established to date.

Sara sits, amongst others, on Defra’s England Tree Planting Delivery Advisory Group and is a Trustee of the Jennifer D’Abo Memorial Scholarship, supporting British female entrepreneurs.

As founding CEO of The Royal Parks Foundation, Sara and team created the Royal Parks Half, raising £60m+ for charity, and built a new environmental education centre in Hyde Park, connecting tens of thousands of young people with the natural world.

JOHN VARLEY OBE TD Chief Executive Clinton Devon Estates

John joined Clinton Devon Estates as Chief Executive in 2000 after a very varied career in senior management with BT plc, mainly in the global and UK field operations divisions.

John was Chair of the “Varley Review” – the Network Rail Vegetation Management Review for the Government’s Rail Minister, which highlighted the opportunity for the railway to value nature as a key asset. All of John’s recommendations were agreed by the Department for Transport and Network Rail and supported by a wide consensus of stakeholders.

John was a member of the Royal Society’s Steering Group for their Multinational Landscapes Report, published in February 2023.

Previously, John has been a Board Member of a number of arms length bodies including the Environment Agency and Natural England.

John was an independent member of the Lawton Review, “Making Space for Nature”, which was a major influence on the Government’s Natural Environment White Paper. In 2011 John was appointed to the Defra Independent Forestry Panel, which made recommendations to Government on the future of forestry in England.

Between 2015 and 2017 John chaired the Estates Business Group of major urban and rural estates.

John is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration in 1991 and appointed OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours List, for services to agriculture, environment and the rural community

Trudy Harrison MP

Trudy Harrison was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 7 September 2022. She was previously Minister of State at the Department for Transport from 7 July 2022 to September 2022 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport (DfT) from 17 September 2021 to July 2022. She was elected Conservative MP for Copeland in 2017.

Huw Merriman MP

Huw Merriman was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Transport on 27 October 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Bexhill and Battle constituency since 2015.

Before entering Parliament, Huw studied Law at the University of Durham, and qualified as a barrister. He then worked as an in-house financial lawyer and a managing director, and also served as a councillor on Wealden District Council between 2007 and 2015.

Before his ministerial career, Huw sat on the Transport Select Committee, and served as its Chair between 2020 and 2022. Huw also worked as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions and at HM Treasury.

John Parker

John Parker has been Chief Executive Officer of the Arboricultural Association since July 2021, and previously held the role of Technical Director at the Association from August 2019. He has more than ten years of experience in public sector tree management and from 2012-2019 was a member of the Executive Committee of the London Tree Officers Association, which he Chaired in 2016-18, and until 2019 was a Director of the National Association of Tree Officers. John is a member of the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) International Steering Group and is a Chartered Environmentalist, Chartered Forester and an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Biology. He frequently presents at national and international conferences and has delivered a TED Talk entitled Why trees are better than people (available on YouTube). Since spring 2020 John has chaired the Arboricultural Association webinar series, covering a huge range of topics to a worldwide audience. In 2018 he was named Young European Urban Forester of the Year and in 2020 he was appointed as a Trustee of the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, the national UK tree collection. John is interested in public engagement, green equity and promoting the benefits of trees, with particular consideration for their social and cultural value. He is the founder of the Stonehouse Community Arboretum in Gloucestershire.

Martin Frobisher

Martin Frobisher is responsible for leading the Network Rail technical authority. This includes a varied mix of national responsibilities including safety, environment, engineering, security and future research. The Technical Authority team sets national strategy, policy and standards and also provides assurance to confirm that standards are being effectively delivered. Prior to taking up his current role Martin was route managing director for the London North Western Route, which included the railways linking London to Birmingham, the North West, and onward to Carlisle. Martin has additional non-executive duties including non-executive director for RSSB and European Vice-Chair for the International Union of Railways. He is also a reservist army officer and was awarded an OBE in 2020 New Years Honours List. Martin has worked in the railway industry for approximately 20 years in a variety of safety, operational and maintenance roles. Prior to joining the railway Martin worked in the chemical industry, at ICI Polyurethanes, near Blackpool.

Tom Macfarlane

Tom Macfarlane moved to the position of farms and estate manager at Little Rollright Farm in 2015. In this time Tom has been the instigator in the estates transition away from intensive agricultural practices to a more sustainable and holistic system working with nature for the benefit of the environment. On going cropping and grazing trials allow the farm to continually adapt and discover what works on their land and soil type influencing management decisions. The farm has become highly diversified over the last 8 years and attended local farmers markets with honey from its 150? hives, eggs, pork, lamb, beef, firewood, and charcoal to name but a few of the products all produced at Little Rollright. Tom has also overseen an extensive tree planting program that he has been able to integrate into his existing farming system. Tom believes in aligning farming and nature whilst still maintain a viable farming enterprise. Moreover, Tom has an ambition to educate the wider public of where food comes from, showcasing the best of British agriculture. Children are the future, and the education must start with them. The farm now regularly invites local schools to learn about food production and plans to host 30 visits in 2024. The farm is also looking at building an education hub in the coming years to hold more events.