PhD
Mary has had a career spanning both the public and private sector. She has a degree in horticultural science and a PhD in plant pathology. Following a period of research in universities, she worked in fungicide research for Dow Chemical followed by 14 years with the Research Councils coordinating environmental research in the UK through the Environmental Research Funders’ Forum and the Living With Environmental Change Partnership.
In 2014 she became a Forestry Commissioner for England and Scotland, has sat on the expert Committee on Forest Science and the Forest Research Board. Now retired, Mary continues to Chair the Partnership Board for Observatree (an award-winning citizen science project on tree health), is a Trustee for the William Robinson Gravetye Charity and was until recently a Trustee for the Earth Trust. Mary now lives in Wales where she is doing an eco-renovation of a farmhouse and enjoying walking and gardening.