Sebastian Cox is a furniture designer, maker and environmentalist based in south London. Sebastian founded his carbon-counting, forward-thinking, zero-waste workshop and design studio in 2010 on the principle that the past can be used to design and make the future. He produces heirloom furniture, lighting and home accessories and collaborates with other material experts who share his vision for a regenerative material future. His work has received a Design Guild Mark alongside other accolades from design publications including Elle Decoration, Homes & Gardens, EKKB, The London Evening Standard and Forbes. In 2022 he was recognised with design’s most prestigious title and made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI). Projects of note include the woven and mycelium-grown pavilion for the gold-winning Avenade Intelligent show garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2025; Aesop’s Marylebone store in London, England; Lea Bridge Library for the London Borough of Walthamstow.
Amanda Bryan is a Chartered Forester, Lecturer at the Scottish School of Forestry, UHI Inverness and an independent consultant working in the fields of forestry, natural capital and communities.
Sylva Foundation trustee Dr Eleanor Tew is Head of Forest Planning at Forestry England and a Chartered Forester. She studied Biological Sciences at the Department of Zoology, Oxford University followed by a PhD in the Conservation Science Group at Cambridge University. In 2022, she was awarded the Hugh Miller Award for Excellence by the Institute…
Phoebe is a furniture designer-maker, currently working at Benchmark Furniture Ltd. Following her degree at Nottingham Trent University, Phoebe was awarded the Chartered Society of Designers CEP Prize, along with the Materials and Design Exchange award for Sustainability.
After a degree at Wye College, University of London, Jim worked in New Zealand before returning to the UK to begin a career in sawmilling and forestry contracting, then moving into forest and land management in the private and voluntary sectors.
James Morison is a forest environmental scientist, leading research on understanding the impacts of, and the response to climate change of trees, forests and forestry at Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission.
Lucius is the founder and managing director of Oxford Technology Management Ltd, which has specialised in making and managing investments in start-up science-based businesses in and around Oxford since 1983.
Robin Buxton’s career has focussed on building effective organisations and networks to strengthen nature conservation in the UK. He has been Chair of the Earth Trust and Wild Oxfordshire, and Vice-President of CIEEM (the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management).
Sarah spent 11 years working as a fund manager in the City of London, for Phillips and Drew, and UBS. After becoming involved in the centenary celebrations of Thame Community Hospital in 1997, she became Chairman of its League of Friends, a position she holds to this day.