Secretariat

Hamish is the Technical Officer at Plan Vivo. He joined the team in 2022 and provides operational and technical support to PV Climate projects. He also supports the development of core Standard documentation and manages the Technical Review Panel.

His background is in coastal ecology, and he supported the Vanga Blue Forest project through his BSc thesis, which sparked his passion for community-led nature-based solutions and served as a gateway into the VCM.

Hamish has a BSc in Animal and Conservation Biology and is currently enrolled in a GHGMI course.

Calum has a multitude of experience across the realms of sustainable development, including in Kenya for an NGO which works to improve the lives of women and girls in disadvantaged communities through education and job skills training. Upon returning to the UK, he helped build and run a non-profit organisation tasked with helping chairs and non-executive directors integrate climate change governance and mitigation into cross-sector organisational strategy. 

Calum holds a BA in International Relations and English as well as postgraduate qualifications in Sustainable Development, where he specialised in indigenous politics and climate and development theory.

Helena has a long experience in the VCM market from a project perspective through her previous work with AMBIO, based in Mexico. She has participated in various development projects in Mexico related to sustainability, migration, healthy housing, disaster risk and people’s vulnerability by working with regional governments in the Southern part of Mexico and with UN Agencies (ILO, ACNUR and WHO). 

Helena has a Bachelors degree in Science of Communications, a Masters in Development and Management Studies, and has trained in the US in International Public Policies and Project Management. Helena is based in Chiapas, Mexico.

Elena has over 17 years’ experience in climate change and carbon markets with international experience mainly in Latin America, Asia and Africa. She specialises in forest carbon and worked for over sixteen years as a Lead Carbon auditor for projects across Latin America and Asia beneath different international carbon standards.

Before working in a VVB, she worked at the United Nations, collaborating in the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD – 14).

Elena has an MSc in Environment and Quality Management and holds a degree in Environmental Sciences.

Aish holds an MSc in Global Environment, Politics and Society from the University of Edinburgh, where she focused on understanding the environmental actors and the social impacts of their action. For her dissertation, she worked with an environmental consultancy to analyse corporate decarbonisation action since the Paris Agreement, focusing on carbon pledges.

Aish also holds a bachelors in Economics and one in Management, and an MBA from India where she focused on a varied scope of understanding corporate strategy and the political economy.

She has also worked with different corporates and NGOs in the environmental, fashion and healthcare sectors.

Toral recently completed a PhD in Life Sciences with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Imperial College, London. She conducted in-depth fieldwork in Tanzania to better understand the poorly known taxa, ecology, threats, and conservation status of the plant family Ochnaceae and particularly the genus Ochna. Prior to this she worked as a Curator-Botanist at Kew Gardens.

She holds an MSc in Plant Diversity from the University of Reading, where her research project focussed on assessing the conservation status through indicator species in the Chimanimani Mountains, Mozambique. Toral was born in Kenya and is passionate about conservation, particularly in Africa. She is fluent in English and Swahili.

Marleen has over 15 years’ experience in the private sector, working in roles as product manager, partner coordinator and analyst. Key areas of experience include stakeholder relationships, process improvements, and project management.

Marleen has an MA in International Relations from Dublin City University and a BSc in International Development Studies from Wageningen University, where she specialised in Economics and Rural Development. 

Diana previously worked in the travel and tourism sector. During this time she was fortunate to visit various remote and protected areas around the world, experiencing the success of well managed conservation and tourism initiatives and the positive impact this can have on local communities. This led her to pursue an MSc in Environmental Change and International Development, to accompany her BA in English Literature, Media & Communications. Diana has experience on the buying side of the VCM and firmly believes in leveraging the private sector to create positive change.

Outside of work, Diana enjoys walking and running in the hills with her dog Rudi and making improvements to her tiny off-grid cabin in Northumberland.

Ursula holds an MSc in Climate Sciences and an MA in Economics, her studies focused on the socioeconomic impacts of nature restoration and sustainable economic development. She has a background in private sector consulting, where she advised a range of organisations including global corporates, banks and asset managers on developing nature positive and net zero climate strategies. In her previous role as an independent consultant, she supported international development agencies to identify nature financing strategies which harnessed private sector partnerships and the broader commercial opportunities associated with landscape-scale restoration. 

Outside of work, Ursula enjoys hiking and camping from the Scottish Highlands to the Chilean Andes- anywhere that’s still a bit wild! 

Luke’s role as Technical Lead sees him manage matters related to methodologies, core Standard documentation, and governance and procedures for Plan Vivo Standards and programmes. His background is in ecology, completing two degrees from the University of Oxford and University of Edinburgh prior to joining Plan Vivo in January 2019.

Luke’s passion for the environment has been the driving force for his academic and professional career, and he’s always up for a debate about ethical consumerism.

In his spare time, Luke is often engaged in joinery, plastering, electrical work and plumbing as he renovates a house. 

Kristin has worked in the environment and development sectors for more than 20 years. Her career spans conservation and community forestry in Vietnam, Cameroon, Uzbekistan and Scotland and 7 years working as a monitoring and evaluation advisor to the Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio in South Asia. Within this role, she supported organisations in their work on regional water, energy and food security, and in mainstreaming gender and social inclusion.

She has worked with UN agencies, governments, NGOs, CSOs and academic institutions. Kristin is supporting Plan Vivo in its strategic growth and development.

She has an MSc in Forestry and speaks Norwegian and French.

Carrie has over a decade of experience in operations management. After a short career as a circus performer, she began to focus on youth programme development within the recreational art and sport industry. The core of her work focused on knowledge management and internal process development. Before moving to Edinburgh she worked across the globe managing circus schools and therapeutic performance organisations.

She has an MSc in Sport Policy and International Development, a BA in Art History and a SCQF 3 in BSL.

Eva graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an MSc in Environment and Development, where she specialised in environmental governance and natural resource management. Before joining Plan Vivo in 2015, Eva worked on a bio-ethanol project in Panama, where she focused on project and grant management, technical support and communications. Her other previous posts include digital marketing and public relations in the private sector.

Eva is fluent in English, German and Spanish.

Keith has over 20 years’ experience in management roles across the Private Sector, Third Sector and in International Development. He specialises in Rural Community Development and worked for over ten years on sustainable livelihood projects across southern Africa. He heads up the Secretariat, reports to the BoT and is responsible for the development and implementation of the Foundation’s strategy.

Keith has an MSc in Africa and International Development, a PGDip in Business Administration, a BEng in Engineering and is a member of the IUCN Specialist Group on ​‘Sustainable Use and Livelihoods’.