Fiona Tibbitt
Project Manager
Fiona has been passionate about marine conservation since she was a teenager and learnt to dive over 35 years ago. She grew up in Norfolk diving off the North Norfolk coast and was mesmerised by the wrecks and marine life to be found there (not just brown water with nothing living in it as a lot of people think!)
Fiona was heavily involved in the designation of Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds MCZ in 2016. She studied Oceanography and Marine Biology at Southampton Oceanography Centre and did an MSc at Heriot Watt in Marine Development and Protection as a mature student, alongside a HSE Professional Scuba course, based in Orkney.
Fiona has been at Natural England for 11 years and was attracted to ReMEDIES bacause of the combination of Restoration of a vital marine habitat, Citizen Science, Engagement and Education; essential tools required to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. Fiona is excited by this brilliant project, the team she gets to work with and the opportunities this project presents.
Duncan Vaughan
Senior Responsible Officer
Duncan is the Senior Responsible Officer for the ReMEDIES project, providing support for the project team. Duncan has worked in Natural England for over 10 years and is a Principal Officer (Marine) in the Strategy and Government Advice Team.
As a keen sailor, diver and not very good surfer, most of his time outside of work is spent above or below the waterline. Duncan has previous experience as the Chief Conservation and Fisheries Officer for the Turks and Caicos Islands, installing mooring systems in Marine Protected Areas to reduce the impact on coral reefs and seagrass beds.
Jan Maclennan
Recreational Impacts Specialist - Natural England
Jan works in Natural England’s Science Directorate and helps provide advice and coordination on the ReMEDIES project for the installation of Advanced Mooring Systems (AMS) and management of recreational activities. She hosts regular meetings with organisations and groups around the UK involved in AMS to share lessons learned and developments in technology.
Jan has worked in Natural England for over 10 years as a marine specialist on evidence and management of marine recreational activities as well as invasive species. Previous to Natural England, Jan worked at the Marine Management Organisation.
Mark Parry
Head of Ocean Habitat Restoration
Mark Parry is the Project lead for the Ocean Conservation Trust. He has worked for the OCT for 10 years, and is now Head of Ocean Habitat Restoration. Mark has developed an understanding of the life-cycle requirements of British Seagrasses and contributes this towards successful restoration within ReMEDIES.
Prior to Mark's time at the OCT, he spent 7 years as an Offshore Environmental Surveyor for Annex 1 Habitats and 7 years within Surfing Development, working for the British Surfing Association.
Mark grew up enjoying Plymouth Sound SAC as a diving and surfing location, and has witnessed how the SAC has changed over time. He is contributing to ReMEDIES to reverse this decline and allow habitats to flourish.
Amelia Newman
Seagrass Cultivation Officer
Amelia joined as our full-time Seagrass Cultivation Officer in autumn 2021, based within the Ocean Conservation Trust.
She is passionate about growing healthy seagrass and replenishing natural beds.
With a background in marine science and conservation, and excellent knowledge of the local fisheries, Amelia is well equipped to highlight the importance of seagrass beds to local maritime uses. Amelia has previously worked with other EU LIFE projects such as ReLIONMED and ReCONNECT. She is most at peace under the sea and loves to dive...especially in seagrass.
Stephen Kelly
Education Officer
Stephen is an experienced educator based at the Marine Conservation Society. He loves nothing more than sharing his passion for the marine environment.
As a keen outdoor swimmer, Stephen is particularly interested in highlighting the ways we can work together to ensure a cleaner, better-protected and healthier ocean.
Tom Crawford
Head of Learning and Community Engagement (MCS)
Tom is an experienced educator based at the Marine Conservation Society. He has been working with young people of all ages in and outside of the classroom for over 20 years.
He is also a keen surfer, sailor and ocean optimist.
Kate Fortnam
Manager of The Green Blue - Royal Yachting Association
Kate manages The Green Blue, the environmental outreach programme for the Royal Yachting Association, bringing over a decade of expertise in environmental sustainability within the leisure boating sector to the project. She loves being in nature and is often found on the water either sailing, surfing or rowing.
She oversees and delivers on the recreational boating engagement and behavioural change work for the ReMEDIES Project. Raising awareness and helping the boating community to protect sensitive seabed habitats through the creation of sustainable boating guidance and tools, as well as delivering impactful talks, workshops and interactive event stands.
Caitlin Napleton
Natural England Site Lead - Solent Maritime
Caitlin works in Natural England’s Thames Solent team as a Higher Officer and the Solent Site Lead for ReMEDIES. She is passionate about conserving our marine environment and working towards marine recovery through providing evidence-based advice, raising awareness at events and engaging with local stakeholders.
Caitlin studied Oceanography in Southampton, learning about the local environment and wider global systems. Her focus was on the interdisciplinary relationship and influences between biological, chemical and physical factors, finishing with a project on phytoplankton composition and carbon cycling.
She is excited to be part of such a great team of organisations and people working to save our seabed!
Meg Hayward Smith
Natural England Site Lead - Falmouth and Helford
Meg is a Higher Officer in the Natural England Devon, Cornwall, and Isles of Scilly Area Team and is the Falmouth and Helford site lead for the ReMEDIES project. She works closely with local stakeholders to provide positive outcomes for seagrass within Falmouth and Helford.
Meg studied marine biology at the University of Exeter and founded Falmouth Marine Conservation, a group that engages local people with the marine environment and creates opportunities to connect with nature.
In her free time, Meg loves to combine her enthusiasm for marine conservation with her passion for sailing, snorkelling and diving around the Cornish coast.
Jules Agate
Natural England Site Lead - Essex Estuaries
Jules is a Higher Officer in the West Anglia Natural England team and site lead for Remedies project work in the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation.
She joined Natural England in 2023 and previously worked in NGOs for over 30 years, delivering outreach and volunteer-led projects on marine conservation, birds, bats, ponds and newts.
Jules is a snorkeller and Seasearch volunteer, and is generally fascinated by nature; a feeling she likes to share with others.
Jules Webber
Natural England Site Lead - Isles of Scilly
Jules is a Higher Officer in the Natural England Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Area Team and is the Site Lead for ReMEDIES project work in the Isles of Scilly.
Jules is passionate about nature conservation and has worked in Natural England for over 21 years on nature recovery projects both on land and at sea, from the southeast to the southwest peninsulas of England.
Jules is happiest in or on the ocean and is enthused and inspired to be working with so many partners who are dedicated to its conservation and enjoyment.
Kate Duncan
Plymouth City Council - Natural Infrastructure Officer (Marine)
Kate focuses on Marine Projects, principally the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries MPA Recreational Mitigation and Management Scheme involving other partners around the MPA network. This aims to share guidance, knowledge and best practice to help reduce disturbance and negative impacts on protected features from recreational activities, whilst helping to enhance them.
Kate studied Marine Biology and did an MSc in Marine Conservation at the University of Plymouth.
She joined PCC as a Coastal Ranger for Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, encouraging people to learn more about the area they live in, the amazing marine environment and its importance to our future. She continues to be involved in the PSNMP through their planned Nature Boost Projects.
As with her work, in her spare time she enjoys spending time in or near the water - ideally swimming, paddling and exploring the coast on foot with a sketchpad.
Amelia Sturgeon
Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum (TECF) Coordinator
Amelia is the Coordinator for TECF which is the strategic management partnership of relevant authorities for the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries Marine Protected Area. Her role is to manage the Forum and to support members and stakeholders by coordinating projects and management activities within the area. She is currently updating the sites Management Plan and will be working with partners to deliver actions that help improve the condition of the site over the next 5 years.
Since studying MSc Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth, she has had a passion for marine policy, the work that goes on in the site and now enjoys the challenges of working in a marine environment with many stakeholders and complex issues.
In her free time she likes to go surfing or walking to explore the Devon and Cornish coastline.
Liz Cole
Plymouth City Council - Natural Infrastructure Officer
Liz is the ReMEDIES project lead for Plymouth City Council, in partnership with the Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum.
Liz has project managed a range of blue and green infrastructure projects with a focus on increasing connections to nature, supporting new approaches to community engagement and stakeholder management and helping to change values and attitudes towards nature.
Before joining PCC Liz worked for a range of organisations including the Wildlife Trusts, British Waterways, University of the West Indies and the Ocean Conservation Trust.
Liz is happiest when she’s outside, preferably near the Ocean, and is a keen swimmer & paddleboarder.
A big thank you to all the other staff involved in ReMEDIES over the years...
Rebecca Smith
Finance Officer
Rebecca is responsible for overseeing the financial management of ReMEDIES and reporting to our funder LIFE.
Rebecca has been with English Nature and Natural England since 2004 where she worked for a number of years as a Transport Policy Specialist. Since 2012, Rebecca has been involved in several of Natural England’s LIFE and Heritage Funding projects in both project roles (IPENS LIFE Programme Coordinator and the Interim Programme Manager for Back from the Brink) and more latterly in providing advice, guidance and support to all of Natural England’s LIFE projects.
Rebecca was keen to join the ReMEDIES project team to get back into a project role and to learn more about our amazing marine environment.
Esther Farrant
Education Officer
Meet Esther, our Education Officer, based within the Ocean Conservation Trust. Esther is an inspiring educator, captivating audiences of children, students, and adults with her creative and interactive workshops, and a new program of immersive experiences to connect people with our project.
With a background in sail training and science education, Esther has the skills required to showcase our aims, inspire behaviour change, and recruit the future generation of conservationists. By engaging with local fishing communities, sailors, and schools, Esther is raising awareness of vital seabed habitats and motivating communities to help protect them.
Esther loves the ocean and is most often found on, in, or under it, either paddleboarding, kitesurfing, sailing or scuba diving.
Jean-Luc Solandt
Principal Specialist in Marine Protected Areas
Jean-Luc is Principal Specialist in Marine Protected Areas at the Marine Conservation Society. He is a marine biologist who developed trawling closures in seagrass areas a decade ago, and works with Ocean Conservation Trust and others on Advanced Mooring Systems and Voluntary No Anchor Zones.
He provides technical and policy advice on all matters to do with UK and overseas Marine Protected Areas, including on designation (where MPAs are and why), and the management that MPAs get. He is also involved in scientific surveys of sites, and law associated with protection for sites.
Charlotte Bolton
National Seasearch Coordinator
Charlotte is an ardent temperate-water diver/snorkeler and Seasearch volunteer. Since 2016 she has been employed by the Marine Conservation Society as the National Seasearch Coordinator in overall charge of the programme, now in its 35th year under that name.
Seasearch provides volunteer divers to help the ReMEDIES project with monitoring the health of our seabed habitats.
Muriel Plaster
Natural England Site Lead - Plymouth Sound and Estuaries
Muriel is a Marine Lead Adviser in the Natural England Devon, Cornwall, and Isles of Scilly Area Team. This involves writing condition assessments and conservation advice for our Marine Protected Areas and providing ecological advice for marine-related projects on a case-by-case basis.
She is originally from Germany but fell in love with Cornwall through doing a postgraduate course at Exeter University. Her undergraduate project focused on seagrass in the Caribbean.
In her free time she likes to be in or around the sea; swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, hiking, and cooking (especially near the sea and with seaweed).
Thank you to everyone else, as well as many others (too many to name here) who were involved in the project...
Natural England – Fiona Crouch (project manager 2020-2023), Roger Covey, Wendy Johnson, Angela Clark, Josh Day, Danielle Agnew, Gina Wright, Alan Kavanagh, Jenny Baker, Alex Baker, Stephen Treby, Gavin Black, Jess Taylor, Lindsey Hollingsworth, Angie Gall, Kate Sugar, Ruth Crundwell, Sophie Pipe, Nicky Allen, Carolyn Waddell, Esther Hughes, Pip Roe, Daniel Moore, Hazel Selley, Luke Marsh, NE dive team, Carolyn Worfolk, Dawn Isaacs and Maija Marsh
Ocean Conservation Trust – Loveday Trinnick, Roger Maslin, Emma Nolan and Ian McFazden
MCS – Kate Whitton-Brown, Charlotte Bolton, Jenny Griffiths, Rachael Wilson, Rachael Edwards, Jules Agate, Hannah Bester, Kenneth Bodles
PCC – Kaja Curry, Sam Lew, Debbie Costello
RYA- Phil Horton, Richard Hill
+ all the communications, support and finance teams from every organisation
