ARIES Management

ARIES is a large consortium of many different partners, and the management of ARIES is transparent, responsive, equitable and experienced. We place heavy emphasis on integration and empowerment of collaborative partners, postgraduate researchers and academic colleagues throughout our organisation.

ARIES is managed by three main Boards. The Strategy Board is responsible for the overall running of ARIES, and for all aspects of policy and strategy development, under the advice of the Advisory Board. The Management Team is a sub-group of the Strategy Board, the members of which make decisions relating to the operational management of ARIES. The Training and Progression Team are responsible for developing and reviewing the training provision within ARIES.

Advisory Board (AB)

The overall direction of the DTP is guided by an Advisory Board drawn from our research user community. It promotes links between academic, policy and collaborative partner communities within and beyond ARIES. It advises on maximising impact from ARIES research on society, industry, policy and the wider scientific arena; and how best to realise the career aspirations of ARIES PGRs.

	Dr Lucinda Gilfoyle, Anglian Water – Catchment & Coastal Strategy Manager Chair of the Advisory Board Lu manages the AW Catchment Management Strategy which is about preventing pollution from getting into our raw waters in the first place, rather than relying upon ‘end of pipe’ treatment solutions to remove it once it is there. This approach requires working in partnership with a large number of both internal and external stakeholders. Her team comprises of coastal, biodiversity and agricultural experts who work closely alongside operational teams to deliver water quality outputs for both marine waters and, sources used for abstraction. Lu’s background is in Operations and she has held a number of managerial positions across our Water, Operational Management Centre and Water Recycling departments. She is also trained in both a Gold and Silver Command. She has a degree in Environmental Toxicology and a PhD in Water Treatment and is a Chartered Environmentalist. Lu was awarded Chartered Environmentalist of the year by the Society for the Environment in 2015 and is a fellow of the Institute of Water. She is also the Chair of the Institute of Water Eastern Area.
	Professor Iain Stewart, Jordan-UK El Hassan bin Talal Research Chair in Sustainability, Royal Scientific Society in Jordan Iain’s research expertise is in geohazards and recent geological change, alongside interests in promoting geoscience to the public. Much of Iain’s geocommunication activities stem from his 15 year partnership with BBC Science, making television documentaries on the nature, history and state of the planet. As well as receiving an MBE for services to UK geoscience in the 2013 Birthday Honours list, he has received awards for geoscience communication from numerous international geoscientific bodies. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Iain is also President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and of the Devon Wildlife Trust. Much of Iain’s work involves international capacity-building around geo-environmental science communication, and in 2018 his Plymouth post was recognised as a UNESCO Chair of Geoscience and Society.
	Dr Tim Hill, Chief Scientist, Natural England Tim is a member of Natural England’s Senior Executive who, alongside his wider organisational leadership role, has specific responsibility for the use and quality of science & evidence in Natural England. Tim has worked for Natural England, its predecessor English Nature and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee for over 20 years in various leadership, management and specialist roles including: marine ecology; marine and terrestrial nature conservation; protected areas designation, management and regulation; wildlife management; access; and team and project management Tim has a PhD in Marine Ecology (University of Liverpool) and a joint honours degree in Marine Biology and Zoology (University College North Wales). Tim has been a member of Natural England’s Senior Executive since December 2014, with former senior leadership roles including Director Regulatory Services and Access and Director of Evidence. Tim has been Natural England’s Chief Scientist since 2011.
	Dr Stuart Rogers, Chief Scientist Cefas Stuart is an experienced marine scientist with a strong track record of building Cefas’ reputation and customer base. He has had a lot of operational experience through direct management and accounting responsibility as Director of Environment and Ecosystem science teams, and has published widely in the peer-reviewed literature. He is also actively involved in delivering science and evidence to government as a senior adviser to Defra Marine and Fisheries, and providing support for UK government in Europe. Through the Cefas Management Board he now has corporate responsibility for strategy and science planning, implements the Cefas Science and Evidence Strategy, and delivers our Ministerial Indicators for science output and self-investment. He is responsible for the strategic direction of Cefas science and is accountable for the quality of evidence and advice to our customers.

Strategy Board (SB) and Management Team (MT)

The Strategy Board is responsible for the overall running of ARIES, and for all aspects of policy and strategy development; under the advice of the Advisory Board. It is responsible for the assessment of project proposals; allocation of studentships; monitoring the partnership and overall training progress against success criteria set by NERC and the Advisory Board, and reporting to NERC.

Members are experienced, active researchers in the NERC remit, or users of that research; experienced PGR managers; and/or trainers. The Board has representatives from HEIs and non-HEI hosting partners, and collaborative partners.

The Management Team is a subgroup of the Strategy Board, responsible for making decisions relating to the operational management of ARIES. This includes but is not limited to reporting, process development, partner activities, training delivery, finance, use of flexible funding and agile response to funders.

Members of the Strategy Board (and MT)

Professor Simon Butler (MT)

ARIES Director and Chair of Strategy Board

Professor of Applied Ecology, School of Biological Studies, University of East Anglia

Professor Greg Price (MT)

ARIES Deputy Director

Professor of Earth Sciences, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth

Professor David Bilton (MT)

ARIES Deputy Director

Professor of Aquatic Biology, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth

Professor Corrine Whitby (MT)

Wellbeing and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Professor in Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Essex

Professor Jim Groombridge

Professor of Biodiversity Conservation, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent

Professor Alex Dickson

Professor of Geochemistry, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London

Dr Shaun Bradshaw

ARIES Operational Manager

Doctoral Training Partnership Manager, University of East Anglia

Professor David Richardson