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Meet the team
The University’s Energy and Sustainability Team works within the Estates and Facilities Directorate and is responsible for delivering the Greenspace Movement, key environmental policies and strategies, with the support from the ESSPG and its members, working groups, the Environment Champions and Student Reps, and other members of the University.
The Energy and Sustainability Team is composed of six full-time members.
Durham University’s core Energy and Sustainability Team includes the following roles:
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Jane Simmons Senior Sustainability Manager
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Jane leads the Sustainability Team who work on Biodiversity, Environmental Compliance, Sustainability Engagement with staff, students and the wider community; Active and Sustainable Travel; and Waste and Recycling. The team also convenes the University-wide Environmental Sustainability Strategic Planning Group (ESSPG) which meets termly. |
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Ian Armstrong Biodiversity Manager
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Ian is responsible for implementation of the University’s Biodiversity Strategy and for reporting on KPIs including Biodiversity Net Gain; species presence/absence data; priority species population data; habitat value; and habitat creation schemes. He chairs the Biodiversity Delivery Group, delivers initiatives across the University Estate, advises colleagues from other departments, and works with local and regional conservation partners. |
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Michael Harkness Sustainability Manager (Energy and Infrastructure) michael.j.harkness@durham.ac.uk
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Michael leads on energy and water management for the University, ensuring that metering and data collection is maintained across the estate. He is a member of the Energy Conservation Working Group and is involved in the implementation of the LEAF initiative across our lab environments. Michael also contributes to our HESA return. He is a Practitioner member of ISEP (IEMA) and coordinates the University’s corporate membership ensuring the team stay up to date with the latest developments in sustainability by sharing, hosting, and coordinating events and meetings. |
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Daren Hatfield Sustainability Manager (Waste and Environmental Compliance) Darren.j.hatfield@durham.acuk |
Darren is responsible for ensuring the University remains compliant with all environmental regulations that apply to its operation, including oversight of the EcoCampus Environmental Management System, for which Durham hold Platinum status. He also has responsibility for all waste and recycling activities across the estate, ensuring that staff and students follow the waste hierarchy and helping us reach our total waste and recycling proportion targets. Darren also convenes both the Sustainable Procurement Working Group and the Waste Reduction Group. |
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Beccy Blackwood Assistant Sustainability Officer (Travel) and Staff Engagement
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Beccy supports our active and sustainable travel offer for both staff and students including developing new programmes and ensuring they are communicated across the University. Beccy also oversees travel data, ensuring we are accurate when reporting our emissions. Beccy also leads on staff engagement across all of our themes and convenes our Environment Champion Network as well as managing the Ring Fenced Carbon Budget (RFCB) scheme. |
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Kelly Brown Sustainable Engagement Coordinator for Wider Student Experience Greenspace.students@durham.ac.uk
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Kelly leads on coordination of sustainability engagement for students. This includes partnering student-led initiatives from formalwear wardrobes to COP events and from plant recycling schemes to college group biodiversity projects. Kelly also convenes the Greenspace Student Engagement Group (GESG), where all colleges’ nominated environment reps meet at least termly to share good practice and promote sustainable practices to their peers. Kelly also manages the day-to-day operation of our behaviour change Greenspace app for all university members and leads on communication across our Greenspace website and social media accounts.
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The Sustainability team is one of three service areas which sits within Campus Services and reports to Alison Rutherford, Interim Head of Campus Services. Alison has responsibility for ensuring sustainability roadmaps and delivery plans are implemented, working with other key stakeholders across the Estates & Facilities Directorate and the wider University network.
Alison.Rutherford@durham.ac.uk
The Energy team works on initiatives including decarbonisation and Net Zero, emissions reporting, LEAF implementation, and energy and water conservation, water. The Energy Team reports to Paul Hammond, Interim Assistant Director for Head of Engineering and Asset Maintenance, who is the University’s Net Zero Lead
Both teams sit within Estates and Facilities and report via SLT members Alison and Paul to Ian Rooney, Director of Estates and Facilities. Ian has overall leadership for both energy and sustainability for the University, working with teams both in and outside of the Directorate. Ian is also the strategic lead for our strategic risk around Estates, one of our new risk management strategies. Ian supports this work through management and implementation of the Estates Strategy and Masterplan which supports the University Strategy for 2017-2027.
Within Estates and Facilities, key team members support delivery of our sustainability goals, including;
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George Martin Senior Systems, Revenue & Information Manager
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Dedicated financial and systems support for Energy and Sustainability including work on utilities budget management, sitting on the Ringfenced Carbon Budget award panel, management of subsidised public transport contracts, and broader budget management for energy, waste, utilities, travel, and sustainability.
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Lee Marriott Dedicated Relationship Manager for Energy and Sustainability
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Lee acts as a conduit to all other university departments and faculties via his network, enabling us to get the message out on our sustainability initiatives, projects and programmes. This includes raising key items on relevant team agendas and sharing opportunities for engagement.
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Lesley Ash Senior Business Support Manager
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leads the Business Support team who are critical in the Estates and Facilities directorate’s day-to-day operations. Sheley is the Energy and Sustainability team’s contact for business support. She and her team minute meetings (including Environmental Sustainability Strategic Planning Group and Biodiversity Sub Group), draft and circulate information on sustainability initiatives including travel and energy conservation, coordinate directorate-wide newsletters including sustainability features, and support purchasing equipment and services for the Energy and Sustainability team. |
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Lauren Miller & Thomas Ludlow Event Coordinators
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Lauren and Thomas are Event Coordinators within Event Durham team who support the planning and implementation of sustainability and energy events across the University including: Deep Geothermal and the Greenspace Festival. They also lead on Durham’s Sustainable Tourism and Regenerative Tourism Awards |
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Darren Haley Waste and Recycling Operative
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Darren is located at Green Lane, Darren ensures that any waste taken to the central waste yard is properly segregated and sorted whilst following all compliance requirements for both hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Darren is also heavily involved in delivering our annual Green Move Out project and is responsible for collecting waste from all colleges and designated university drop-off points and delivering it to our central sorting location over the summer term and vacation. |
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Dave Profit Head of Maintenance Services
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Dave and his team work on a range of sustainability initiatives, including managing waste segregation at our central waste compound; managing our nature gardens; constructing bird, bat and hedgehog boxes; and installing nature-friendly building measures such as green bricks. |
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Peter Thomson Botanic Gardens Manager botanic.bookings@durham.ac.uk or 4schools@durham.ac.uk
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Peter is the day-to-day manager of our Botanic Gardens. As well as maintaining this visitor attraction, Peter is also heavily involved in using nature as a catalyst of sustainability engagement. He runs many school visits for young ecologists and manages partnerships with local partners including the Durham Wildlife Trust, the Woodland Trust, and NT. Further, Peter and his team weave sustainable practices throughout the work they undertake in the gardens, including sustainable composting systems, refraining from using herbicides, and careful management of the gardens to benefit wildlife as well as undertaking conservation work, such as construction of exclosures for priority species including Black Poplar. |
Outside of the Estates and Facilities Directorate, many colleagues across the wider organisation contribute to our shared sustainability goals, ensuring that they are well integrated, including:
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Katie Binks Volunteering and Community Outreach Senior Manager
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Katie leads our volunteering team, ensuring sustainability volunteering opportunities are communicated and well attended.
Team members including Volunteering Coordinator Katie Thurlbeck and Student Volunteering Assistant Coordinator Emma Allison ensure that there is always active environmental projects including tree planting, balsam bashing, Green Move Out, Hog Friendly Litter Picking, School Environment Clubs and many more. Full contact details are available at Meet the team - Volunteering or they can be reached at staff.volunteering@durham.ac.uk / student.volunteering@durham.ac.uk / community.engagement@durham.ac.uk.
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Hayley Philipson CIS Project Officer |
Hayley has led on digital sustainability projects to reduce the environmental impact of our ICT. This has included communications to staff on optimal usage and initiatives such as our print minimisation programme. |
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Matthew Phillipson Library Services Green.travel@durham.ac.uk
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Matthew chairs the Durham Bicycle Users Group (DBUG, A fantastic group that sits outside of the university). DBUG reports to our Integrated Sustainable Travel Planning and Steering Group (ISTPSG).
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Catherine Crichard Senior Category Manager Procurement.office@durham.ac.uk
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Catherine is based in the procurement service and sits on our internal Sustainable Procurement Working Group. She also leads on key contracts for university sustainability including our travel management company (including supporting with our Business Travel Policy); our subsidised public transport contacts; data for calculating our travel emissions and Integrated Sustainable Travel Plan. |
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Rachael Devlin Senior Category Manager Procurement.office@durham.ac.uk
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Rachael works on a range of sustainability issue, notably procurement of food for the university. This includes supporting initiatives such as the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s ‘Food Made Good’ accreditation and managing contracts such as Food Buy and the sustainability criteria these use to minimise the impact of the millions of meals we serve annually.
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Jennie Brownlow Product and Brand Manager university.catering@durham.ac.uk
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Jennie has been instrumental in designing and delivering several high-profile, high- impact sustainability projects. Recent and ongoing initiatives include the introduction of carbon rated menus across the University in partnership with MyEmissions. She has also led the introduction of our largest ever reusable cup project and a 25p cup levy on all disposable cups (2024) which is being reinvested in further sustainability projects.
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Claire Clarke Reward Specialist, HR
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Claire administers several sustainability initiatives through our employee rewards programme, including a Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme for bikes and ebikes (Cycle2Work) as well as for Electric Vehicles (Tusker_, as well as managing our subsidised public transport schemes.
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Deputy Provost stefan.przyborski@durham.ac.uk
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Stefan chairs the University’s Energy Conservation Group, which seeks to minimise energy consumption across the University Estate. Recent successes include amending building opening times during quieter periods and adjusting BMS setpoints, leading to significant emissions reductions. |
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Lindsay Ramage Policy, Systems and Performance Director Research.innovation@durham.ac.uk
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Sitting within Research Innovation Services, Lindsay has led on Durham’s signature of the Concordat for Environmental Sustainability.
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Heather Whitmore Performance and Policy Manager Research.innovation@durham.ac.uk
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From within Research and Innovation Services Heather provides support to the Working Group on Environmental Sustainability in Research which seeks to implement changes to research practices, including working with the Energy and Sustainability Team to minimise waste and energy use and reduce research travel-associated emissions.
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Stephen Willis Director of Research and Deputy Head of Department of Biosciences
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Having co-developed our Biodiversity Strategy, Steve is now the Chair of the Biodiversity Sub Group, which brings together internal colleagues as well as regional partners. He leads on the University’s work on the Durham City Green Corridor Project with partners regionally and also recruits and manages interns working on Biodiversity Strategy delivery on our campus and supports growing of local provenance plants for use across our estate. |
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Kieran Lawrence
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A recent Durham University Graduate and former Biodiversity intern, Kieran is responsible for mapping our 251 hectares of estate using the Natural England 4.0 metric. This ensures that we have the data that we need to chart progress from our 2019 baseline and against our 2032 Biodiversity Net Gain Target.
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Laura Marsiliani Business School’s Dean of Ethics, Sustainability and Responsibility
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Laura is a Professor in the Business School and chairs the WG ESR to drive changes in operational as well as curricular sustainability. She is a member of the Centre for Environmental and Energy Economics (CEEE) and has organised two international conferences on the international dimension of environmental policy funded by the EU EURESCO Programme.
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Get in touch
Do you have a question or suggestion for the team? Get in touch with us
Senior Sustainability Manager
The Senior Sustainability Manager will be responsible for developing and implementing our sustainability strategy, policies and action plans. They will work with the team to drive performance and identify ways to achieve our targets.
Sustainability Coordinator (Wider Student Experience) - Kelly Brown
Kelly works with the college environment reps, student groups and the Durham Students’ Union to develop a community of passionate individuals who can help us promote sustainable living and development. Kelly also coordinates campaigns and events focused on each of our Greenspace Icons, using behaviour change principles to actively engage staff and students because together we can make an impact.