Trustee (Chair)

Joined June 2023

After training as a teacher, Martin joined the RAF, serving for 28 years during which time he spent a tour of duty as the Station Commander of RAF Wyton, Brampton and Henlow before leaving as Director of Training Policy for all three armed forces in 2008.

On leaving the RAF, he became Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, representing and supporting further education colleges across the UK, and where he worked closely with ministers and officials in the education and business departments.  In 2016 he was appointed as the first Professor of Leadership in Further Education and Skills at the Institute for Education University College London, whilst also continuing to fulfil various non-executive roles locally and nationally.

In 1998 he was appointed OBE in recognition of his support to operations in the Balkans and his contribution to Anglo-German relations, and in 2016 he was appointed CBE for his service to further and higher education.

Martin is now keen to contribute through Natural Cambridgeshire to the place in which he and his family have made their home for more than 30 years.

Trustee (Treasurer)

Joined June 2022

Matthew Bullock was Master of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge 2014 -2019, and read History at Cambridge.  In a long banking career, he was heavily involved in financing of technology companies in the first stages of the Cambridge Phenomenon, before becoming a General Manager of Barclays Bank, a Managing Director of an investment bank and CEO of a building society. He has been also a member of several governmental Advisory Boards. He was a founding member of Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and the Centre for Business Research and a member of the University’s Audit Committee.  He has been chairman of an English language school, of a life sciences equipment company, and is currently of chairman of an oral immunotherapy company and has served as a Non-Exec and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

He was a founding Director of Cambridge Ahead and a Commissioner of the Cambridge and Peterborough Independent Economic Commission. In 2020 he was a founder of the Cambridge Nature Network and in 2021 a founder of the Fenland SOIL, a farmer-led organisation to address climate change in the Fens.

Trustee

As a strategic communications, PR and marketing professional, Richard brings valuable skills and experience to the leadership of Natural Cambridgeshire as the organisation seeks to influence stakeholders and members of the public to take action to reverse the ecological and biodiversity crisis locally. Over twenty years, his clients have included many local organisations, public, private and third sector, and he brings strong networks and a good understanding of the local policy framework to the table.

Passionate about nature, although very much a self-declared enthusiast, Richard is familiar with the key issues in the environmental world and the challenges and opportunities for nature. As chair of the Langdyke Countryside Trust, a charity that works around Peterborough to promote nature recovery, he takes an active hands-on role in the management of its seven nature reserves, and he is also chair the John Clare Countryside partnership, which is taking forward a landscape-scale nature recovery project, focused on limestone grassland, woodland and wetlands north of the Nene and south of the Welland rivers in Peterborough. Richard was previously Treasurer of the Wildlife Trusts of BCN for seven years. Richard was chair of Natural Cambridgeshire between 2024-2022. He was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to charity and the environment in the 2024 New Year Honours List.

Trustee

Martin has worked for charitable nature conservation organisations for over 30 years in a variety of professional ecological and nature conservation roles. He has a detailed knowledge of the habitats and natural environment of Cambridgeshire and a strong commitment to their enhancement. He currently manages a team of over 20 staff and is a member of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust’s leadership team. From his professional work he has a strong knowledge of how charities operate. In addition to being a trustee of Natural Cambridgeshire, Martin is also a trustee of a small charity responsible for the stewardship of an SSSI.

Trustee

Tim is a former President of the Country Land and Business Association, and he subsequently served on The Board of The RPA for 4 and 1/5 years during the implementation and roll out of The Sustainable Farming Incentive and Capital Grants schemes, and has recently stood down from the role.

Farming 1600 acres and further contracted land close by in South East Cambridgeshire, all the land is in Higher or Mid Tier Countryside Stewardship, with priority given to water protection and farmland birds. Natural Cambridgeshire’s significant progress in recent years and ambitious plans going forward will rely on close engagement with the agricultural community, and as a Trustee, he is keen to foster this key relationship. Locally, he is also spearheading the Granta Land Management Recovery Group, a catchment-wide cluster working with local business and focus groups aiming to improve water quality, flood protection and ecological riverine recovery.

Trustee (Vice-chair)

As Regional Director for Communities with master developer, Urban & Civic, Becca works with local and regional environmental partners to support the delivery of strategic green space and green and blue infrastructure and corridors, within and around new developments. She leads Urban & Civic’s sustainability framework, which includes their biodiversity net gain strategy, route to net-zero carbon and health and well-being initiatives.

She is particularly keen to ensure the engagement of communities in shaping the approach to ecology and landscape within new developments, including supporting the activation, enjoyment and learning from the landscape as it comes forward within the development. Becca chairs Natural Cambridgeshire’s Developing with Nature Forum.

Trustee

Kirsten is an experienced Trustee and marketing professional committed to environmental sustainability, nature conservation and community engagement. She has experience of leading volunteer-driven educational and environmental initiatives and launching a sustainable venture.

She has held trustee roles across several organisations underpinned by formal charity governance training. She has brought strategic leadership to initiatives focused on poverty prevention, supporting the move to living within Earth’s boundaries and encouraging a circular economy.

Kirsten is also currently a Trustee at Cambridge Carbon Footprint, where she assists with strategy, fundraising, operations and governance. She has co-founded a local environmental group and led a volunteer churchyard team that earned a Silver Churchyard Conservation Award from the Wildlife Trust for biodiversity enhancement and habitat stewardship.

Her time at Natural England as a Non-Executive Director Apprentice deepened her understanding of national initiatives to protect and improve England’s natural environment whilst promoting access to nature and the benefits this brings. This experience informs her contribution to Natural Cambridgeshire’s mission to double nature in Cambridgeshire.

Trustee

Emma is a strategic conservation leader with over 15 years’ experience in ecological management, stakeholder engagement, and landscape-scale nature recovery. As General Manager for the North Cambridgeshire Portfolio at National Trust, they lead the delivery of the Wider Wicken Vision and manages a diverse range of properties including the iconic Anglesey Abbey. Her work spans nature-friendly farming, peatland restoration, carbon capture, and inclusive visitor experiences.
Emma brings deep expertise in biodiversity, ecological monitoring, agri-environment schemes and partnership management, having previously held senior roles at Essex Wildlife Trust. She is a passionate advocate for mental health and equality and actively champions inclusive access to nature. Emma sits on several regional steering groups and committees and is committed to supporting Natural Cambridgeshire’s ambition to double nature across the county.

Trustee

Rob grew up on his family’s arable farm in Suffolk. After studying agriculture at Newcastle University, Rob completed an MSc in agricultural economics at Michigan State University. Five years of policy work in Washington DC followed, before returning to the UK as Advisor to the Director General at UKASTA, now AIC. After working as a regional adviser for the CLA, Rob joined the NFU East Anglia regional team as Environment Adviser in 2012.

Rob handles all environmental and planning issues on behalf of East Anglian farmers. As well as being a trustee of Natural Cambridgeshire, Rob is active in the county as a member of the Fens for the Future group and serving on the Flood Risk Management for the Fens Technical Steering Group. He also supports the Fenland SOIL farmer-led group, set up under the auspices of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s Commission on Climate, which is exploring how to mitigate carbon and soil losses from fenland agriculture while also enhancing and increasing biodiversity on fenland farms.