The Forum's Board
Judith Conroy Trustee from 2018
A long-time organic gardener with a particular interest in pollinators and other garden wildlife, Judith is a researcher at Coventry University's Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience. Having worked on their Blooms for Bees project, she is currently involved with two Horizon 2020 projects: one researching legumes as forage for pollinators and as food for people, and another to find solutions for contentious inputs in organic growing.
Judith has also written and currently teaches an organic gardening qualification, and is a regular contributor to Grow Your Own magazine and Garden Organic's The Organic Way. Judith is on our Science Group and takes a major role in the Forum's Twitter account.
Mary Jackson Trustee since 2020
Mary has a background in education and landscape architecture and has been helping children and young people get close to nature through their school grounds and beyond since volunteering for national school grounds charity Learning through Landscapes (LtL) in the early 1990s.
Now having spent more than 20 years working for LtL she is currently Projects Manager and has managed the charity’s Polli:Nation project helping more than 250 schools to encourage pollinating insects into their school grounds. She is also co-founder of the International School Grounds Alliance, a global network of organisations and professionals working to enrich the experiences of children and young in their school grounds. Through both organisations Mary works to ensure that children’s connection to nature becomes part of their daily lives. Mary is a member of our Admin Group on the Board.
Helen Bostock Chair Trustee 2010-2018, 2020-
Helen is Senior Senior Wildlife Specialist for the RHS, based at Wisley. With a History degree from York University, Helen took the National Certificate in Horticulture at Askham Bryan Agricultural/Horticultural College, gaining an excellent grounding in the basic skills and science of horticulture. She then completed the two-year Wisley Diploma in Practical Horticulture and RHS Diploma before joining the Advisory team nine years ago.
Helen has been on the Forum's Steering Group since 2008, and was in charge of the RHS/WLGF partnership research project "Plants for Bugs" at RHS Wisley, which compared native and non-native plants as contributors to garden insect biodiversity. She played the major role in developing the RHS "Plants for Pollinators" lists, and in setting up the Forum's Facebook account.
Dr Mark Goddard Trustee since 2020
Mark is an urban ecologist with a particular interest in conserving biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services in cities. He is a VC Fellow of Northumbria University at Newcastle. Mark hasd been associated with the Wildlife Gardening Forum since his graduate student days at Leeds University, when he gave an excellent presentation on his PhD topic at our 2010 Conference.
His thesis studied ecological and social drivers of bird and bee diversity in residential landscapes. This work has led to an interest in how we can incentivise householders, communities and local authorities to manage cities more sympathetically for wildlife.
He is currently working within three collaborative UK projects on the consequences of automating cities, soil carbon capture and urban pollinators, and three major international collaborations. Mark leads our Science Group on the Board.
The Forum's Board
Helen Bostock Trustee 2010-2018, 2020-
Helen is Senior Wildlife Specialist for the RHS, based at Wisley. With a History degree from York University, Helen took the National Certificate in Horticulture at Askham Bryan Agricultural/Horticultural College, gaining an excellent grounding in the basic skills and science of horticulture. She then completed the two-year Wisley Diploma in Practical Horticulture and RHS Diploma before joining the Advisory team nine years ago.
Helen has been on the Forum's Steering Group since 2008, and was in charge of the RHS/WLGF partnership research project "Plants for Bugs" at RHS Wisley, which compared native and non-native plants as contributors to garden insect biodiversity. She played the major role in developing the RHS "Plants for Pollinators" lists, and in setting up the Forum's Facebook account.
Judith Conroy Trustee from 2018
A long-time organic gardener with a particular interest in pollinators and other garden wildlife, Judith is a researcher at Coventry University's Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience. Having worked on their Blooms for Bees project, she is currently involved with two Horizon 2020 projects: one researching legumes as forage for pollinators and as food for people, and another to find solutions for contentious inputs in organic growing.
Judith has also written and currently teaches an organic gardening qualification, and is a regular contributor to Grow Your Own magazine and Garden Organic's The Organic Way. Judith is on our Science Group and takes a major role in the Forum's Twitter account.
Dr Mark Goddard Trustee since 2020
Mark is an urban ecologist with a particular interest in conserving biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services in cities. He is a VC Fellow of Northumbria University at Newcastle. Mark hasd been associated with the Wildlife Gardening Forum since his graduate student days at Leeds University, when he gave an excellent presentation on his PhD topic at our 2010 Conference.
His thesis studied ecological and social drivers of bird and bee diversity in residential landscapes. This work has led to an interest in how we can incentivise householders, communities and local authorities to manage cities more sympathetically for wildlife.
He is currently working within three collaborative UK projects on the consequences of automating cities, soil carbon capture and urban pollinators, and three major international collaborations. Mark leads our Science Group on the Board.
Johan Ingles-Le Nobel Trustee since 2020
Johan is a Modern History graduate who is highly experienced commercial marketing manager with 20 years online experience. He has great expertise in most modern software and web-based applications including web-site creation and social media. Hi many interests include ultra-close-up photography, and his website is an encyclopaedic practical guide, and he has an impressive gallery of images hosted on Flickr.
Johan is a keen wildlife gardener and won the Large Garden section of the Surrey Wildlife Trust's Wildlife Garden of the year award 2019. Johan now manages the Forum’s Facebook group and page, and has brought its membership to an amazing 54,000 members in a year. He is responsible for developing our outreach as Director of Communications.
Mary Jackson
Mary has a background in education and landscape architecture and has been helping children and young people get close to nature through their school grounds and beyond since volunteering for national school grounds charity Learning through Landscapes (LtL) in the early 1990s.
Now having spent more than 20 years working for LtL she is currently Projects Manager and has managed the charity’s Polli:Nation project helping more than 250 schools to encourage pollinating insects into their school grounds. She is also co-founder of the International School Grounds Alliance, a global network of organisations and professionals working to enrich the experiences of children and young in their school grounds. Through both organisations Mary works to ensure that children’s connection to nature becomes part of their daily lives. Mary is a member of our Admin Group on the Board
Adrian Thomas Trustee 2012-2020, 2021 -
Adrian is the RSPB's face and voice of gardening for wildlife, author of the truly excellent RSPB Gardening for Wildlife (now in its second edition) and monthly columnist for Garden Answers magazine. But most importantly he is a passionate, hands-on wildlife gardener! Particular interests are: how to engage and inspire the general public; the value of garden plants for wildlife; how to dispel the myth that wildlife garden has to be messy; and how to integrate wildlife gardening with all the other things that people want their gardens to be. Adrian organised and managed our ground-breaking 2020 survey of public attitudes to wildlife gardening.
Adrian Thomas Trustee 2012-2020, 2021 -
Adrian is the RSPB's face and voice of gardening for wildlife, author of the truly excellent RSPB Gardening for Wildlife (now in its second edition) and monthly columnist for Garden Answers magazine. But most importantly he is a passionate, hands-on wildlife gardener! Particular interests are: how to engage and inspire the general public; the value of garden plants for wildlife; how to dispel the myth that wildlife garden has to be messy; and how to integrate wildlife gardening with all the other things that people want their gardens to be. Adrian organised and managed our ground-breaking 2020 survey of public attitudes to wildlife gardening.
If you might be interested in bringing your skills and experience to our Trustee Board, please get in touch through our contact page. As will as interests in biodiversity, ecology, education and gardening, we need people with experience in finance/fundraising, web development, growing a charity (or SME) and EDI (equality, diversity & inclusion.)
If you might be interested in bringing your skills and experience to our Trustee Board, please get in touch through our contact page. As will as interests in biodiversity, ecology, education and gardening, we need people with experience in finance/fundraising, web development, growing a charity (or SME) and EDI (equality, diversity & inclusion.)
Dr Clare Wright Trustee from 2023
Clare is Associate Professor in Linguistics and Language Teaching at the University of Leeds. She is currently involved in University research projects to improve the international student experience. She was President of the European Second Language Association (2019-2023) and currently co-chairs the European-wide Transnational Mobility in Education Network. She has much experience in giving talks nationally and internationally and brings to the board a wide range of strategic management, communication, and organisational skills.
Sustaining and cherishing wildlife has been a lifelong passion for her, inspired by her mother's deep love of birds. Her concern for nature and the environment has led her to volunteer with local groups such as Honley Village Community Trust and is a long-term investor in a locally-owned wind turbine generating funding for green micro-initiatives. In the run up to COP26 (2020-21) she was part of a Yorkshire-based green network working on awareness-raising of key aims of COP26 with local communities and lobbying local MPs to back local action to protect wildlife and speed up rewilding and reforesting initiatives. Clare also enjoys singing in the Huddersfield Choral Society and restoring an 18th century French farmhouse in Northern France!
Ali Vitale Newman Trustee from 2023
Ali has a background in Purchasing having spent 17 years as a buyer at Nationwide but longed to be outdoors. She took the leap in 2008 and now runs a small gardening company with her husband, managing large and small gardens, a small estate, and the grounds at the National Trust HQ in Swindon. She studied and passed the RHS Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture and has a passionate interest in encouraging people to garden for wildlife.
She currently heads up the Forum’s Facebook Page, Group and Instagram accounts and together with a dedicated and passionate admin team, hopes to share and spread the word about how great gardening for wildlife is in the UK and beyond.
Dr Clare Wright Trustee from 2023
Clare is Associate Professor in Linguistics and Language Teaching at the University of Leeds. She is currently involved in University research projects to improve the international student experience. She was President of the European Second Language Association (2019-2023) and currently co-chairs the European-wide Transnational Mobility in Education Network. She has much experience in giving talks nationally and internationally and brings to the board a wide range of strategic management, communication, and organisational skills.
Sustaining and cherishing wildlife has been a lifelong passion for her, inspired by her mother's deep love of birds. Her concern for nature and the environment has led her to volunteer with local groups such as Honley Village Community Trust and is a long-term investor in a locally-owned wind turbine generating funding for green micro-initiatives. In the run up to COP26 (2020-21) she was part of a Yorkshire-based green network working on awareness-raising of key aims of COP26 with local communities and lobbying local MPs to back local action to protect wildlife and speed up rewilding and reforesting initiatives. Clare also enjoys singing in the Huddersfield Choral Society and restoring an 18th century French farmhouse in Northern France!
Ali Vitale Newman Trustee from 2023
Ali has a background in Purchasing having spent 17 years as a buyer at Nationwide but longed to be outdoors. She took the leap in 2008 and now runs a small gardening company with her husband, managing large and small gardens, a small estate, and the grounds at the National Trust HQ in Swindon. She studied and passed the RHS Level 2 Certificate in Horticulture and has a passionate interest in encouraging people to garden for wildlife.
She currently heads up the Forum’s Facebook Page, Group and Instagram accounts and together with a dedicated and passionate admin team, hopes to share and spread the word about how great gardening for wildlife is in the UK and beyond.
Hafsah Hafeji Trustee from 2024
Hafsah is a community gardener, craftswoman and outdoor education advocate. Through her current role as School and community gardener for Hammersmith community gardens, she leads outdoor classes for students and community groups which exposes them to the natural world and the power of growing their own food. She is motivated to bring access to the world of plants to people who live in urban spaces.
In 2020 Hafsah graduated with a degree in Horticulture specialising in garden design from Nottingham Trent university. Since her degree she has paid a particular focus on community horticulture which led her to work for Learning through landscapes on their Polli:Gen project. This gave her the opportunity to work in a professional capacity with the WLGF who were partners on the project.
Dr Stephanie Bird Trustee from 2024
Steph is a Senior Entomologist for the RHS. With a background in botany and ecology Steph is keen to help gardeners find ways to encourage wildlife, particularly invertebrates, in their green spaces. Outreach has been an important part of her role at the RHS, through being a STEM ambassador and by giving talks on insect related topics for RHS public training days, UK Fungus Day and Insect Week.
Steph’s PhD research complimented the Plants for Bugs project – she explored the impact of plant geographic origin on the biodiversity of soil fauna; current projects include developing the “Plants for Pollinators" list and predators of the box tree moth.
Hafsah Hafeji Trustee from 2024
Hafsah is a community gardener, craftswoman and outdoor education advocate. Through her current role as School and community gardener for Hammersmith community gardens, she leads outdoor classes for students and community groups which exposes them to the natural world and the power of growing their own food. She is motivated to bring access to the world of plants to people who live in urban spaces.
In 2020 Hafsah graduated with a degree in Horticulture specialising in garden design from Nottingham Trent university. Since her degree she has paid a particular focus on community horticulture which led her to work for Learning through landscapes on their Polli:Gen project. This gave her the opportunity to work in a professional capacity with the WLGF who were partners on the project.
Dr Stephanie Bird Trustee from 2024
Steph is a Senior Entomologist for the RHS. With a background in botany and ecology Steph is keen to help gardeners find ways to encourage wildlife, particularly invertebrates, in their green spaces. Outreach has been an important part of her role at the RHS, through being a STEM ambassador and by giving talks on insect related topics for RHS public training days, UK Fungus Day and Insect Week.
Steph’s PhD research complimented the Plants for Bugs project – she explored the impact of plant geographic origin on the biodiversity of soil fauna; current projects include developing the “Plants for Pollinators" list and predators of the box tree moth.