My team is responsible for developing Natural England’s advice to government to ensure that legislative reforms result in a more effective and coherent legal and regulatory framework to restore nature and to achieve the government's long-term goals reflected in statutory targets and the Environmental Improvement Plan.In this role, I:• Inform and shape Natural England’s advice on opportunities and need for legislative change and regulatory reform.• Analyse forthcoming legislation and the associated risks and opportunities for nature recovery and Natural England’s work.• Build and maintain excellent and influential relationships across the organisation and with Defra/other government departments to build support for, and understanding of the opportunity, that legislative reform can make to achieving Natural England’s ambitions for nature’s recovery.• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of Natural England’s contribution to the delivery of the EIP.• Provide strategic leadership on our relationship with the Office of Environmental Protection (OEP)• Ensure join-up with colleagues across Strategy to deliver cohesive and informed advice to Defra and other government departments.• Work closely with the Chief Scientist’s Directorate to ensure policy development is evidence-led.• Work with Natural England and Defra governance structures as appropriate.

As Principal Officer and SRO for Natural England's People and Nature Survey, I was responsible for:* Providing leadership and setting the direction of the People and Nature Survey; * Having oversight of project management including assessing Key Performance Indicators and writing business cases for future funding;* Providing oversight and having responsibility for People & Nature Survey data, which areOfficial Statistics, including responsibility for internal and contractor Quality Assurance and datamanagement processes to ensure compliance with UK Statistics Authority requirements; * Ensuring delivery of communications and engagement plans (internal and external); * Functionally leading staff working on the People & Nature Survey (Project Manager, analysts, statistician) and coaching and building capability; * Developing strong partnerships with Defra, contractors, NE’s Connecting People &Nature Programme and key stakeholders (which include Government Departments, NGOs andacademia); * Driving innovation and effective application of emerging technologies to the People &Nature Survey, including exploring new uses and seeking out new audiences and collaborators; * Working with social scientists to develop data sources to support the 25 Year Environment Plan G (Natural Beauty and Engagement) indicators; * Promoting the survey and contributing to the field e.g. through articles, conference attendance and presentations; * Assessing value and cost effectiveness of analytical approaches, tools and technologies; * Ensuring the survey data meets Natural England’s delivery needsand is accessible; * Working closely to drive innovation and develop strategic thinking with the PrincipalAdvisers for Statistics, Data Science and Data Integrity; * Working with the other managers and Principals in the Chief Scientist Directorate on the development and delivery of the Team’s priorities, supporting the Evidence Services senior leadership team.

Between January 2021 and March 2022, I was as a Senior Specialist in Natural England's Central Evaluation team. Working collaboratively with the team and stakeholders across the organisation, we built capacity and embedded a culture of evaluation- and good quality evaluation practice- across the organisation. Our work supported Natural England's goal to become a learning organisation, learning from what it does and ensuring that the organisation makes evidence-led decisions. Within my team, I primarily support Natural England's Greener Farming and Fisheries programme, involving:* Delivering training and capability building support;* Supporting the development of evidence priorities and an evaluation strategy based on these;* Co-producing theories of change for strategy development and evaluation planning;* Advising on the design and procurement of proportionate evaluation;* QA of evaluation outputs;* Acting as a champion of robust and rigorous policy/project evaluation.I also focused on the development of systems-informed evaluation practice and pioneered the use of developmental evaluation.

At Wavehill, I was responsible for the management and delivery of medium and large research and evaluation projects from designing projects with a client through to the production of a final report. Specialising in evaluation, we used mixed-methods approaches to provide our clients with evidence and insight that allows them to make better decisions regarding project, programme and service delivery. At any given time, I managed between 10 and 20 projects, at various stages of the research process, working with a team of colleagues to deliver high quality outputs for clients. I also contributed to other projects led by colleagues.Skills developed in this role include:* Mixed-methods research design* Theory of Change and logic model development* producing evaluation frameworks and LogFrames * Undertaking desk-based research including systematic review and research synthesis* Carrying out stakeholder interviews* Facilitating workshops and focus groups* Report writingAt Wavehill, I led and contributed to projects across a range of areas, including skills and employability, regeneration, rural development, earth observation, arts and creative industries, and clustering initiatives. My particular interests, however, lay in Wavehill's climate change and sutainability, international development and third sector capacity building portfolios.​

In this role, I was responsible for the management and delivery of small and medium sized research projects. In all other respects, the role is similar to the Senior Consultant role I later held.

Working with a multi-cultural team of Chinese, US, South African, Canadian and British colleagues, I was responsible for designing and delivering teaching to adult learners in Xi'an, People's Republic of China.In this role, I developed the following skills:* Teamwork* Cross-cultural co-operation and communication* Presentation and facilitation skills* The ability to work in an unfamiliar environment

During my postgraduate studies, I wrote and edited copy on a part-time basis to support my studies. As a copy writer, I produced copy for a range of commercial clients. While undertaking assignments as diverse as documenting travels, writing biographies, and producing promotional shorts, I experimented writing in different styles, tailoring outputs to client and audience need.As a copy editor, I specialised in assisting non-native English speakers prepare manuscripts for academic publication or thesis submission, working with scholars and students to turn a rough document into the finished article.

While studying for my doctorate in International Relations, I taught regular seminars and lectures on undergraduate modules at Aberystwyth University's Department of International Politics. I also convened modules on International Relations and International Development for pre-sessional students.