Blackpool beach with footprints in the sand. A rollercoaster is in the background as part of the pleasure park

Our trustees

Our trustees govern the charity. They're unpaid volunteers with a wide range of skills and experience who share our passion for the ocean.

Each year, our Board reviews its effectiveness and carries out a skills analysis. When there is a vacancy for a trustee, we advertise for people with the skills and experience needed. We then hold interviews before selecting a candidate. Each candidate is then proposed to our members for election at the Annual General Meeting.

Our trustees serve three-year terms. While they can offer themselves for re-election at the Annual General Meeting, each trustee’s total term is limited to make opportunities for new people to join the Board.

Our Chair - Amanda Nobbs

As a geographer with a masters in conservation, Amanda has been concerned for the environment throughout her career in the charity, public and private sectors. As Chief Executive of the Council for National Parks, she successfully campaigned for better legislation and for the South Downs and New Forest to become National Parks.

She has been appointed by ministers and the Environment Agency as a conservation member on various committees relating to tourism, waterways, water and environmental protection. Chairing the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee for eight years, she transformed the way partners worked together and now champions a joined-up approach including politicians, businesses, communities and partners.

A picture of a smiling Amanda Nobbs, the Marine Conservation Society's Chair. She is standing in front of a calm lake backed with trees and has short blonde hair, a brown jacket and pink shirt.

Amanda Nobbs

Our Vice-Chair - Will Oulton

Will studied zoology at university, which led to an interest in how biodiversity and natural capital can be identified and valued by investors and civil society. He is currently Head of Responsible Investment for global asset manager, First Sentier Investors, Chair of the European Sustainable Investment Forum and an Honorary Professor at Nottingham University.

Will’s focus is on business sustainability, and he has been leading some of our work in this area. He believes protecting the biodiversity of our coastal environment is essential.
 

Will Oulton, the Marine Conservation Society's Vice-Chair, smiles at the camera in a portrait photograph

Will Oulton  |  Image credit: Billy ​Barraclough

Our Treasurer - David Wilkin

David is a qualified accountant and experienced executive specialising in financial and resource management. He has worked at executive level in local authorities, higher education and policing, and is currently the Director of Finance & Resources for Devon & Cornwall Police.  

David is an active scuba diver and instructor, and deeply values the importance of clean and healthy marine environments, not just for the opportunity they bring to the climate and nature emergencies, but also the positive mental health benefits clean and protected oceans offer individuals and communities.

David Wilkin, the Marine Conservation Society's Treasurer, stands on a beach smiling at the camera

David Wilkin

James Arnell

James initially trained as a barrister before switching into business and finance, moving from international strategic business consultancy at Bain & Company into private equity investing at Charterhouse Capital Partners, where he spent 25 years working across Europe and chaired the firm’s ESG (environment, social, governance) committee. James is a Director of Open Planet Studios, which produced the Ocean film with David Attenborough.

For many years, he has been an environmental philanthropist and has also invested in startups in the environmental field. He lives by the sea, swims in it regularly and has supported efforts to protect his local waters through the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project. He has also contributed to Greenpeace’s global ocean campaigning and is vice-chair of the Greenpeace Ocean Board. By being a trustee and supporter of the Marine Conservation Society, he hopes to help at the national level with a focus on fundraising and the stakeholder experience.

James Arnell

Polly Burns

Growing up in Scotland, Polly’s love of the marine environment developed through frequent trips to Scottish beaches (freezing swims included). Polly has had a diverse and exciting career to date, focusing on the interactions between humans and the sea. She specialises in sustainable seafood supply chains, having worked to ensure wild salmon stocks are protected as aquaculture continues to grow in Scotland, and managing audits of global fisheries and aquaculture operations as they undertake assessment against sustainability standards.

Polly is currently Head of Fisheries Standard Policy at the Marine Stewardship Council, where she oversees policy development associated with maintaining the requirements, contributing to driving change through the seafood supply chain and enabling consumers to make better choices of seafood products.

Trustee polly Burns smiles against a green landcaspe. She has short wavy brown hair and is wearing a moss-green jumper.

Polly Burns

Mark Eckstein

Mark started his professional life monitoring the effects of pollution in the Humber Estuary and subsequently spent 30 plus years helping investors and financial institutions integrate Environmental and Social requirements into their investment decisions, including fishing and aquaculture operations globally.

Mark spends as much time as he can on the Island of Mull. He was first involved with Marine Conservation Society in the 1980s (hermit crab logo anyone?) and is delighted to have an opportunity to return to the organisation as a Trustee at such an important time for marine conservation and the environment.

Trustee Mark Eckstein smiles on a sandy beach with a rocky bank in the background and a blue, slightly cloudy sky. He is wearing a checked shirt.

Mark Eckstein

Martin Koehring

Martin is a global ocean, climate, and sustainability expert and futurist with 20+ years of experience. His recent roles include Senior Strategic Expert in Blue Economy for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Global Director of Impact at international sustainability NGO Forum for the Future, Head of The Economist Group’s World Ocean Initiative, and Practice Lead for Sustainability, Climate Change & Natural Resources at Economist Impact.

A prolific global speaker, Martin has chaired the World Ocean Summit since 2019 and spoken at other major global ocean-related events such as the UN Ocean Conference, UN World Ocean Day, Blue Earth Summit, Virtual Island Summit, World Water Week and COP26/World Biodiversity Summit. In addition to being on the Board of the Marine Conservation Society, Martin is also a Director/Trustee of the people-powered think tank the New Economics Foundation.

Trustee Martin Koehring smiles against a white background. He is in formal business wear - a white shirt and black suit jacket.

Martin Koehring

Martin is known for accelerating the growth and impact of the World Ocean Initiative, helping to establish Economist Impact’s Sustainability Project (winner of a Webby Award for “Best Writing - Editorial”), serving as project director for the award-winning Food Sustainability Index, and giving a TEDx talk on "How a just & regenerative mindset can help us navigate the polycrisis". He writes about the blue economy and sustainability at martinkoehring.com.

Debs Mahon

Passionate about promoting Welsh culture and communities after growing up on the coast of North Wales, Deb highly values the opportunity to play a role in protecting marine, coastal and inland waters. Bringing a passion for community development and social impact into her everyday work, Deb enjoys bringing people together to work through complex problems and hopes to play a positive part in protecting the environment for future generations.

Deb spent 17 years working within and alongside local and national charities in fundraising, supporter care and volunteer management roles. Alongside this she started a consultancy role supporting small charities facing funding challenges during and after the pandemic, and in 2022 she moved to a role in the Welsh sport sector. After working with organisations closely linked to UK waters for over a decade, she’s seen time and again why there is a collective responsibility to protect our seas on which we depend so heavily for economic and environmental stability.

Trustee Debs Mahon smiles on a beach with the sea to the right side of her. She is wearing a brown jacket and has her hair braided.

Debs Mahon

Rebecca Rodney

Rebecca is an economist with an MSc in Sustainable Development from the University of Sussex – jointly led by the globally renowned Institute of Development Studies and Sussex’s Science, Policy & Research Unit. She is currently a Vice President in Silicon Valley Bank’s UK Venture & Growth team, where Rebecca specialises in supporting the scale-up of high-growth technology companies around the world, and currently sits as the lead for all sustainability-focused lending opportunities in the Enterprise Software space.

Rebecca is a keen scuba diver, vegetarian and politics enthusiast who believes that environmental justice and community involvement is always necessary to achieve the changes we need for a healthy, happy ocean and population.

Trustee Rebecca smiles on a sandy beach with the ocean behind her. It looks like an overcast UK day. She has curly brown hair and is wearing a navy waterproof jacket.

Rebecca Rodney

Rajah Roy

At the conservation NGO, Blue Ventures, Raj developed a love for the sea. In Madagascar, he worked in association with tribal communities to put in place a series of octopus no-take zones, helping to create one of the largest MPAs in the Western Indian Ocean. Following Blue Ventures, he worked at Shelter, developing public-facing campaigns and marketing advice services. Raj is currently based at Springer Nature, the academic publisher, as Head of Strategic Marketing. He believes that without protecting biodiversity and our seas now, we won’t be able to ensure their survival for the next generation.

Trustee Rajah smiles widely against a pale pink background. He is wearing a thick black jacket suitable for very cold conditions.

Rajah Roy

Natalie Shippen

Natalie is Executive Director at the Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative, working to connect legal frameworks with the way companies and investors approach climate and nature. She has 15 years of environmental law experience spanning private practice, government, NGOs, and academia.

Her career began with a precedent-setting case to protect a threatened species of turtle - an early lesson in the impact law can have on conservation. She went on to lead strategy on investor fiduciary duties at ClientEarth, advise on post-Brexit environmental and agricultural legislation at the Government Legal Department, and serve as global ESG knowledge lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills.

A regular visitor to the Pembrokeshire coast, Natalie brings her legal and policy experience to the Marine Conservation Society's mission to protect our seas.

Trustee Natalie smiles from a small boat on what looks like a Loch. She is wearing a pink waterproof jacket and a burgundy cap.

Natalie Shippen

Helena Thernstrom

With experience as a solicitor at Rabobank and in the probation service Helena now works as Head of Legal for NatWest Bank’s Asset and Invoice Finance activities. She is a passionate advocate of diversity and inclusion, driving numerous initiatives and networks in this area, including the NatWest Gender Network. She is especially proud of having created a development programme aimed at supporting female talent, now delivered globally and engaging thousands of colleagues.

Helena is a keen anthropology student and scuba diver. She believes everyone should have equal access to what our ocean has to offer and a role in protecting it.

Trustee Helena Thermstrom smiles against a glass window with a city glass office block behind her. She is wearing a black jumper.

Helena Thernstrom

Stefano Tiratelli

While at university, Stef became a qualified diving instructor and travelled to the Egyptian coast on an expedition to map the Red Sea coral reefs. He has since spent his career in the advertising industry and is currently Chief Executive of a WPP company, managing clients across the globe.

Stef believes there has never been a more important time to use our communications skills and experience to ensure the welfare of our ocean.

Trustee Stefano smiles against a plain grey background. It is a headshot style photo and he is wearing a blue shirt and green and blue checked jacket.

Stefano Tiratelli

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Read our trustee guide