Our team

Team members

Andy Parker

Chief Executive Officer

Andy has been the main architect of Degrees/the SRM Governance Initiative since its launch in 2010, responsible for the focus on the Global South, the programme of engagement workshops, and the creation of the Degrees Modelling Fund. His background is in climate policy and he began working on geoengineering in 2008 when he led the production of the Royal Society’s Geoengineering the climate report. He moved into academia to research SRM governance at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam. Andy was a member of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s expert working group on geoengineering and is currently a mentor for the Anant Fellowships for Climate Action and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK.

François Pougel

Transition Manager

François is consulting for the Degrees Initiative as transition manager, overseeing the next stages of the initiative’s development as well as its programmes. He has extensive experience in non-profit management, entrepreneurship and corporate sustainability as well as a keen interest in innovative ventures seeking to make a positive impact in the realms of climate or ocean protection. He holds master’s degrees in geopolitics and international relations as well as in ocean and atmospheric science.

Anna Baldwin

Programmes Officer

Anna is responsible for the administrative and organisational aspects of the programmes. She has an extensive background in education, which has included work on refugee resettlement programmes, youth public engagement and NGO policy analysis. These thematic issues have allowed her to live in Palestine, Jordan and Vietnam. Anna holds a Master’s Degree in International Development from Massey University, New Zealand, where she explored community-based inter-faith dialogue initiatives and their contribution towards peacebuilding efforts. She holds particular interest in the future of governance within SRM research.

Nick Zuñiga

Programmes and Communications Officer

Nick is a communications professional with experience in research institutes, international organisations and NGOs. He is responsible for implementing the initiative’s programmes and communications, increasing awareness of our achievements, and helping to build connections across our growing global community. He holds an MA in International Political Economy and has experience working in emerging technologies, climate governance and development research across Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of this, he has extensively explored the governance aspects of geoengineering with a particular focus on the Global South. He is passionate about utilising his interdisciplinary background to ensure that those set to be most affected by climate change can play an active role in the global conversation on SRM.

Pete Irvine

Science Advisor

Dr Pete Irvine is responsible for advising the CEO and programmes team on key scientific matters in relation to Degree’s work. Applying his expertise in SRM research, Pete helps to guide Degrees future planning by mapping out scientific developments within the field. He also supports Degrees work as a research collaborator. Pete is a Lecturer at UCL Earth Sciences, and previously Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences working in Prof. David Keith’s group. Dr Irvine conducts research on the climate and broader impacts of solar geoengineering and works to put those findings into perspective with the risks posed by climate change.

Pepi O'Neil

Executive Support Manager

Pepi is responsible for the administration side of the organisation and brings over 20 years experience of working in the charitable sector to Degrees. Pepi has worked in The Gambia, South Africa and Cameroon attending Commonwealth People’s Forums and running workshops for linked communities between the Global North and the Global South in collaboration with the BBC, Commonweath Foundation, Eden Project and the Fairtrade Foundation amongst others.

Mark Turner

Strategic Communications Adviser

Mark Turner is a creative strategic communicator on complex global challenges, who has shaped messages and information products on issues from climate change and sustainability to conflict and humanitarian aid. He has worked as a speechwriter and strategic communicator for numerous international organisations and initiatives, including the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative, where he hosts a podcast with global thought leaders on climate-altering technologies. Before moving into communications, he was a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times.

Board of Trustees

Prof. John Shepherd CBE FRS

Chair of the Trustees

John is Degrees’ Chair of Trustees and an Emeritus Professor of Earth System Science at the University of Southampton. He served as Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research from 2001 to 2010 and chaired the Royal Society’s seminal 2009 Geoengineering the climate report. He has been a Co-chair of the initiative since 2010.

Mr Mark Hilton

Honorary Treasurer

Mark is Degrees’ Honorary Treasurer and a Management Consultant. He has over 30 years of experience in strategy, leadership and operations. Mark holds Masters’ degrees in Global Development Management and Accounting and Financial Management, and is also a trustee of the British Institute of Human Rights.

Prof. Saleemul Huq

Trustee

Saleem has been the Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Dhaka since 2009. He has been an IPCC Lead Author multiple times and was a Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). In 2019 he was listed as one of the twenty most influential people working on climate change around the world.

Mrs Jackie Kado

Trustee

Jackie is the Executive Director of the Network of African Science Academies which she helped found in 2001. She specialises in project planning and management for policy interventions and also trains on good financial management for research and development projects. She serves as a member of several committees in Kenya and internationally.

Mr Oliver Morton

Trustee

Oliver is a senior editor at The Economist. As a science writer he has covered SRM for over a decade, including as the author of the 2016 book The Planet Remade. He has extensive experience as an advisory board member, is an Honorary Professor at University College London and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.