Director, Edinburgh Earth Initiative/Lead Delegate

Jamie Cross is a social and economic anthropologist, and the inaugural Director of the Edinburgh Earth Initiative. He leads the University of Edinburgh wide programme to increase investment in interdisciplinary research on climate, environment and sustainability; promote context-appropriate solutions to global climate and environmental challenges; and support staff and students in their efforts to accelerate progress towards international climate commitments.

His research examines efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change in low- and middle-income countries. He has published studies about off-grid consumer cultures, the politics of design, electronic waste, and indebtedness in solar markets, based on research in India, Tanzania, Kenya, and Burkina Faso. He currently leads Cool Infrastructures, a multi-country study into adaptation to heatwaves in low-income urban neighborhoods across four global cities.

Assistant Principal Global Health

Liz holds a chair in Global Health and Development. She is responsible for developing and supporting global health partnerships with colleagues in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) communities, and for local and global advocacy translating global health research into action.

Liz is a co-director of the University of Edinburgh’s Global Compassion Initiative developing work on the value base of the Sustainable Development Goals, the science of compassion, and the contribution that faith communities make to the SDGs.

Liz has led the development of a suite of global health MSc programmes, MOOCs and coordinates the Global Health PhD programme all specifically designed for students from resource constrained countries. She currently is the Co-Director of the Masters of Family Medicine and the MSc in Global Health Challenges

Her own research interests span planetary health and palliative care in contexts of poverty and conflict – new beginnings and better endings.

She sits on the Scottish Government NHS Global Citizenship Board.

Liz was on the Board of Directors for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health, (CUGH), an association of over 170 Academic institutions training in Global Health, and currently chairs the CUGH Research Committee. Previously Liz was the Senior Health Advisor to the Scottish Government’s International Development Team working primarily in Malawi. She has worked for NHS Lothian’s Public Health Directorate leading an NHS HIV partnership between the NHS and Zambia. She has been an advisor to a number of global health charities, and serves as a trustee for CBM Scotland.

Visiting Professor of Livestock and Development, Global Academic of Agriculture and Food Systems

Alan has a PhD in livestock nutrition from University of Edinburgh. Following many years at the Macaulay Institute (now James Hutton Institute) in Edinburgh and Aberdeen he moved to Ethiopia in 2007 to work at the International Livestock Research Institute.

While in Ethiopia he developed a portfolio of research for development projects on livestock systems in developing countries for major donors such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture. These projects involved research in many developing countries including Tanzania, Kenya, India, Vietnam, Syria and Ethiopia.

As well as technical expertise in livestock nutrition Alan is interested in societal, economic and institutional barriers to improved livestock nutrition. He has developed several participatory approaches to livestock feed improvement including the widely used Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST).

Alan joined the University of Edinburgh in 2017 as a joint appointee with the International Livestock Research Institute.

Reader in Marine Science/Deputy Head of Global Change Research Institute, School of GeoSciences

Dr Sian Henley is a Reader in Marine Science at the University of Edinburgh. She has a diverse range of research interests from climate and environmental change in the polar oceans to climate change impacts on children worldwide.

Sian is active in the science-policy space with a focus on the interactions between climate change, Earth’s environments – primarily, yet not limited to, the oceans – and sustainable development. In this capacity,

Sian has represented the international scientific community at high-profile policy events such as the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 (2021) and the UN Ocean Conference 2022.

Sian serves as Co-Chair of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), a Task Force Member for the Southern Ocean component of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and a Science Theme Leader within the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES).

In addition to her wide-ranging research, Sian is a passionate lecturer, educator and communicator on issues around climate and environmental change and sustainable development.

Vice President Community, Edinburgh University Students’ Association

Undergraduate Student, School of Social and Political Science

Lecturer in Climate Finance and Investment, Business School

Reader in Marine Science and Policy/Director of Edinburgh Ocean Leaders Programme, School of Geosciences

Meriwether Wilson is Reader/ Associate Professor in Marine Science and Policy at the University of Edinburgh. Her research projects,  teaching and publications focus on the science-policy-society intersections of marine ecosystems, in particular biodiversity, ocean governance and climate adaptation for small island developing states (SIDS) and large-ocean island nations. Meriwether also founded the university’s interdisciplinary MSc in Marine Systems and Policies.

Before joining the University of Edinburgh, Meriwether spent two decades working on marine protected areas and sustainable development, at the World Bank and other international organisations.  She worked at diverse ocean scales, cultures and economies, with field work and leadership in the Pacific, Caribbean, Europe and the Red and Black Seas.  Meriwether has degrees from Duke University (BA), Yale University (MES) and University of Washington (PhD), and  is a long-standing member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.

Programme Officer, Nippon Foundation-University of Edinburgh Ocean Voices Programme

Gail Sant is a Maltese woman who is personally and professionally motivated by a lifelong love for the ocean. She has a background in biology and global ocean and climate policy.

Gail is Programme Officer for The Nippon Foundation, University of Edinburgh Ocean Voices programme. The aim of the programme is to amplify the voices of ocean communities, especially in the Global South. The Programme tries to bridge gaps in knowledge, capacity and international ocean governance for ocean sustainability through interdisciplinary research and professional development, and by working on international policy.

She is the Executive Director of Malta Environment Foundation and is contributing to the UN Ocean Decade Vision 2030 Working Group 9 white paper as one of its experts.

Throughout her work, Gail finds that she always ‘returns to the grassroots.’ This notion stems from a deep appreciation and an actionable recognition that the communities at the forefront of ocean and environmental challenges need to be the leaders of larger global movements. During her time working and the many hours she spends outdoors, Gail seeks to learn more about humanity’s relationship with nature and how our systems can reflect the belief that there is no true separation between the two groups.

She hopes that through her work, she can be a small part of the paradigm shift towards an equitable, healthy planet for all.

Personal Chair of Global Urbanism and Resilience/Dean International of Latin America, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Professor Soledad Garcia Ferrari is a Senior Lecturer at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA), University of Edinburgh.

Professionally qualified in Architecture and Urbanism in Uruguay, her research focuses on current processes of urban development and regeneration in Latin America and Europe.

She was awarded her PhD in Urban Studies in 2007 at Heriot-Watt University.

Soledad has extensive expertise on research in the process of production of urban areas and has been working more recently in recent planning strategies in Medellin leading Medellin Urban Innovation project awarded by the British Council.

She has taught in the Faculty of Architecture in Montevideo, the University of Seville and was an invited speaker at the School of Architecture, CEU in Madrid. She is currently the University of Edinburgh’s Dean for Latin America and Director of the Edinburgh University Centre for Contemporary Latin American Studies.

Undergraduate student, School of Social and Political Science