SNIFFER Staff

Ruth Wolstenholme, MD

Ruth is responsible for leading the company, having been involved in SNIFFER’s growth from a small research coordination role in the early 1990s, to the knowledge broker that it is today.  With previous experience in environmental consultancy and with SEPA, Ruth is enabling the company to develop its partnership role across government/agencies and to a wider sector.


Janet Cowden, UKTAG Coordinator

Janet is the UK Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) Coordinator supporting WFD Implementation across the UK and UKTAG/SNIFFER's WFD research programme. Janet has a background in water and waste management having previously worked for Scottish Water and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme.


Ian Douglas, Finance and Office Manager

Ian is responsible for managing the finance function as well dealing with all matters relating to the day-to-day running of the office. He has had a varied accounting career having worked in a number of public & private sector organizations.


Diane Foster, Business Manager, N/S Ireland

Diane is based in Lisburn, N. Ireland and is responsible for developing SNIFFER's profile in North and South Ireland. Prior to this role she was the North South Technical Advisory Group Technical Co-ordinator for the WFD for 2 years. Before joining SNIFFER she worked for the Environment Agency and has twelve years experience in river basin planning, implementing EC Directives at a local level and managing research projects.


Becky Greenwood, Business Administrator

Becky deals with both internal and external communications and administration in SNIFFER as part of the Core Team. She is also responsible for the upkeep of the SNIFFER and UKTAG websites. Before joining SNIFFER in April 2007, Becky worked with various public and private sector organisations.

 


Julian Holbrook, Programme Coordinator

Julian joined SNIFFER in May 2008 to coordinate the Scottish Climate Change Impacts Partnership and to provide secretariat services to the Northern Ireland Climate Change Impacts Partnership. Prior to joining SNIFFER, he worked with Scottish Natural Heritage and its predecessors for 18 years on natural heritage trends reporting, environmental indicators, land use strategies, environmental auditing, land cover monitoring and the development of spatial analysis for conservation resource planning.

 


Kirsty Irving, Programme Manager

Kirsty manages SNIFFER’s sustainable land use and water management topic area and currently manages and delivers projects supporting implementation of the Water Framework Directive and oversees  Flood Risk Management work.  Before joining SNIFFER Kirsty had 10 years experience in the areas of water resource management and demand forecasting in the UK water industry.

 


Vanessa Kind, Programme Manager

Vanessa is responsible for managing SNIFFER’s climate change topic area. Previous experiences range from working as a socio-economist for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, to writing a green transport strategy for a hospital, and working on environmental accounts for her native province of Nova Scotia, Canada.

 


Fiona Mactaggart, Programme Manager

Fiona has developed and managed a number of research programmes since joining SNIFFER in 2001. She is currently responsible for the environmental regulation work area, ensuring its relevance across the UK, and leads on the flood risk management work area which includes the flood risk management service for Scottish stakeholders. Before joining SNIFFER Fiona had 10 years experience as an earth scientist working for Scottish Natural Heritage and, coastal research and engineering consultancies.

 


Gina Martin, Programme Coordinator

Gina has managed a number of research programmes since joining SNIFFER in 2003.  She has been responsible for managing environmental regulation and Water Framework Directive projects. She is currently on maternity leave.  Prior to joining SNIFFER, Gina worked in environmental consultancy for 9 years, providing business support in PPC, contaminated land, EIA and environmental management.

 


Stephen Midgley, IWRM Project Coordinator

Stephen is a member of the Executive Board for the project and leads in the identification of short and medium term research needs for IWRM-net.  Stephen has a background in coastal zone and river basin management including Governance issues, developing strategies and implementing network Initiatives.


Lynn Moodie, Contracts Manager

Lynn is responsible for managing SNIFFER's procurement service and the structure/development side of SNIFFER's website.  Before joining SNIFFER in 2003, Lynn worked with various public and private sector companies.
 


Rachel Peacock, Project Administrator

Rachel is the Project Administrator for the European Commission funded URBAN-NET project and is responsible for the financial management of the project, organising workshops and events and all other project administration.  Rachel has previously worked in corporate banking with The Alliance & Leicester Bank and with various private sector and charitable companies, most recently Scottish Human Services Trust.

 


Helen Simcox, Research Coordinator

Helen coordinates and manages research projects for the Water Framework Directive and Environmental Regulation themes. Helen has a background in fisheries research and environmental data analysis, having previously worked at the Environment Agency, Scottish Executive and University of Edinburgh.


Paul Sizeland, Programme Manager

Paul manages the Sustainable Places topic area. Paul’s previous work includes four years as business consultant for SEPA, nine years managing rural and social development projects in Nepal for international aid agencies and ten years land-based forestry and biodiversity work in Scotland for private and charitable companies.


Rebecca Williams, Research Coordinator




Rebecca coordinates and manages research projects for the Environmental Regulation theme. Rebecca’s background is in public and environmental policy research, analysis and development. Prior to joining SNIFFER, Rebecca worked as a consultant to the U.S. government for more than eight years.