Visiting staff

The Global Sustainability Institute (GSI) has benefited from working in collaboration with various Visiting Staff from across a range of academic disciplines and vocational backgrounds. Visiting status is conferred by the Faculty, and all staff sit within one of our three key research themes.

Maxine van Bommel

Dr Maxine van Bommel has a background in Cultural Anthropology and in 2010 graduated cum laude from Utrecht University with an MA in Conflict Studies and Human Rights. She interned at the Environmental Justice Foundation and centred her thesis on the protection of climate refugees within the human rights regime.

Since then, Maxine has built a professional career delivering research and engagement projects across the public and private sector both in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Prior to joining the GSI she worked for a start-up social enterprise which aimed to encourage users to reduce their environmental impact and live more sustainably. She currently works as a researcher at the Prevented Ocean Plastic Research and Supply Centre in London.

Nigel Cooper

Rev Canon Nigel Cooper joined the GSI as a Visiting Fellow in 2014. He has been the University Chaplain for ARU in Cambridge since 2005, a post he still holds.

He was Rector of Rivenhall and Silver End, Essex, for many years before that, and a visiting fellow at Essex University. Nigel is an Honorary Canon of Ely Cathedral.

Nigel has combined his ecological and church interests in four main ways: Ecological Consultant to the Church of England; promoting general environmental awareness and behaviour; encouraging a spiritual approach to nature and has led ‘nature and spirit’ retreats; and research into the philosophy of nature conservation and related topics.

Sally Daultrey

Bringing multidisciplinary methods to threat assessment and strategic communications challenges, Sally has advised companies and research teams worldwide, from boardrooms in Singapore to border camps in Central Asia. Her sector knowledge and professional practice spans science diplomacy, defence, technology innovation and research management. Her work has included contributions to the UK Science & Innovation Network, UKTI Mission to India, UN Summit on Water and Mountains, UK Research Councils Science Partnerships with India, Royal Society enquiry on the globalisation of science and NATO CCDCOE.

With 21 years’ experience in science diplomacy and the study of knowledge ecosystems, her research explores three core themes: (1) how people and organisations coalesce around novel insights and new knowledge to create networks that compete for access and influence; (2) how communication methods evolve in complex networks in response to shared risks, threats and opportunities, focusing particularly on the role of trust, the evolution of shared ontologies and the geopolitics of knowledge sharing; (3) how patterns of hierarchy, influence and privilege form around knowledge exchange. Her work on knowledge security and the protection of vulnerable knowledge has included case-studies on indigenous knowledge in marginalised communities, organisational change and geopolitics of information on shared global threats. Sally’s research on threat intelligence sharing is anchored in her role as a Research Affiliate at William & Mary Whole of Government Centre of Excellence, USA. She also serves as an advisor to National University of Singapore FinTech Lab.  She has worked pro-bono since 2008 in the western Himalayas and in Central Asia, advocating for including the role of indigenous and rural knowledge in research scholarship and dialogue on climate security and other global challenges. Her scholarly contributions have included research papers and conference presentations on cultures of knowledge exchange, with particular focus on communities that use non-digital forms of communication. Her pro-bono work has been presented at University of California San Diego, University of Central Asia, Yale University, University of Kashmir, King’s College London and University of Melbourne. She trained at Imperial College London, the Open University and King’s College London.

View Sally's research publications via ORCID.

Chloë Fiddy

Chloë Fiddy is an Honorary Research Fellow with a particular interest in green skills development.

She has previously worked at senior levels in the manufacturing and retail sectors and in climate and sustainable development planning roles in the public sector. While in the public sector she instigated a number of localised initiatives including active travel projects and home energy efficiency schemes.

Currently she leads on policy and engagement on climate change and energy and social sustainability at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. Within this remit she works on policy advocacy and practice guidance relating to transition planning, delivery, and reporting. These have a particular focus on the transition to a low emission and socially just economy.

She is also a Trustee at Uttlesford Citizens Advice and a District Councillor, with both of these roles giving her valuable hands-on experience of the challenges of negotiating a just transition in the modern economic environment. 

Gerd Schönwälder

Gerd Schönwälder is interested in how the drive towards climate neutrality is changing societies and economies in Europe and the world, and how research and innovation can support the underlying socio-technical transition processes. He is curious about the role deliberative democracy and greater citizen participation can play in this context and whether this can help address deeper causes of disaffection with public policy-making and politics in general.

An independent researcher and consultant, Gerd previously worked for the European Commission’s Research and Innovation department (DG RTD), where he helped to elevate the profile of the social sciences and humanities (SSH) and liaised with international energy-research partners. Before that, he was an invited researcher at University of Ottawa’s Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) as well as the German Development Institute (GDI/DIE, now IDOS), subsequent to holding senior positions at Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Gerd earned a PhD in Political Science from McGill University for his dissertation on popular movements and local government in Peru.

You can connect and read more about Gerd's work via LinkedIn.

Elta Smith

Elta Smith is an independent researcher, writer and consultant. She is an experienced leader in making better policies for our food systems. Her research focuses on the intersection of food, the environment and human health. She has directed and managed studies for UK, EU and international organisations covering issues not only from ‘farm to fork’, but from ‘lab to fork’, particularly the role of science and technology in transforming the food chain.

Elta is the AFN Network+ Policy and Impact Champion and a trustee of the Food Ethics Council. She was formerly Director of the Innovation, Health and Science Group at RAND Europe; prior to that she led the food chain policy team within the Climate, Environment and Food practice at ICF International. Find out more on Elta's website.

Ian Trim

Ian is a Sustainability Director at the international management consultancy Guidehouse and has over 20 years’ experience in developing and delivering low carbon and sustainability programs to public sector and corporate organisations. He recently completed a PhD at the GSI exploring how companies integrate biodiversity and natural capital risks into their corporate strategies, and leads Guidehouse’s engagement with clients on their relationship with biodiversity and nature. Ian works with clients in both the private and public sector to identify, develop and implement the methodologies and tools used to meet long-term sustainability goals. His clients range from major pharmaceuticals to international mining companies, national governments such as Turkey and Singapore, and major investment and development banks.

Prior to Guidehouse Ian spent ten years with the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), developing policy tools to decarbonize the economy. He headed up DECC’s Global Carbon Markets team acting as the UK’s lead negotiator on carbon markets at the Paris COP helping to design the future framework for global carbon markets, and helped develop the International Civil Aviation Organization’s new market-based measure for aviation (CORSIA). Ian developed the UK’s domestic emissions trading scheme (the Carbon Reduction Commitment) and policy solutions to improve energy efficiency from small businesses and homes. From 2011 to 2014, Ian worked for the FCO as the UK’s lead in Russia on climate and environment issues, running projects and engaging Russian ministries and businesses on low carbon and energy efficiency issues.
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