Meet The Team

Cooler co-founder. Having graduated in biochemistry, Dave began his career with Deloittes and then spent twelve years working in IT becoming a director of one of the North West’s top IT companies. He then founded a small consultancy and spent ten years working as a management trainer and coach in the commercial sector.

Having spent six years on the board of Friends of the Earth, he chaired the “Energy” writing group of “Manchester A Certain Future”, and now sits on its steering group, chairing the Low Carbon Culture aim.

Dave is an experienced public speaker and advocate and has appeared widely on BBC TV and Radio, ITV, C4 and Sky and in the regional and national press, and recent work has included management consultancy advising a corporate on product sustainability, developing a feasibility study for a sustainable business network, work creating, developing and leading The Carbon Literacy Project, and general advocacy, advisory and chairing work.

Cooler co-founder. Phil is a long-standing social entrepreneur, broadcaster and community activist based in Manchester. He wants to leave his children ‘a future, not an apology’.

Phil has been a long-time activist for sustainable development, moving from local work with Friends of the Earth in the 1980s to riding a tandem back from Sydney raising awareness of rainforest conservation in 1990. Having studied law at Manchester Polytechnic, Phil enjoyed a successful career in radio working as a presenter and producer of features and documentaries for BBC Network Radio and working for programmes as diverse as You and Yours and Mark Radcliffe. One of his proudest moments remains giving the first-ever radio airplay to The Inspiral Carpets. Between making programmes Phil delivered media training to a wide range of national and local clients, from the RSPB to Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

In 1999 he was the moving force behind setting up the leading community media charity Radio Regen (www.radioregen.org) working in community engagement and creating community solutions from the ground up. This work led to a place on the Board of the Manchester Local Strategic Partnership where he sits as an independent member, ensuring a high profile for sustainable development in the City’s overarching strategies. Phil was also a lead lobbyist in the successful campaign establishing legislation for community radio – working with ministers and civil servants to that end. He is still Director of Radio Regen, working part-time there as Cooler grows.

In 2007 Phil was one of the founders of the high-level climate change advocacy network The 100 Months Club, which in turn led to involvement in the drafting of the city’s climate change action plan: Manchester: A Certain Future, (www.manchesterclimate.com) as part of which he led the ‘Buildings’ writing group. He still contributes to the MACF Steering Group and is also a member of the Board of Manchester’s Local Strategic Partnership.

Emma is our Head of Project Development. She is tasked with pushing ahead the development of The Carbon Literacy Project; leads on sales, account management and marketing; and oversees our external-facing functions such as our website and events.

Emma has worked with The Carbon Literacy Project, in varying capacities, since 2015. She was one of the first accredited Carbon Literacy Trainers (via Manchester Metropolitan University), through which she went on to deliver CL training within organisations across England, France and Germany. Emma undertook an internship with us alongside the final year of her BSc Geography. And, upon completion of her degree in 2017, and shortly before graduating with First Class Honours, Emma was invited to join the team as Project Coordinator, before progressing to Project Leader and now our Head of Project Development.

Emma’s experience within the wider environmental and sustainability sector includes – work with Manchester Climate Change Agency; a year-placement as Sustainable Travel Plan Intern with Manchester Met Environment Team, in addition to being a Sustainability Ambassador; and, with Manchester Museum as part of Climate Exchange. Emma currently sits on the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (YHCC) in the role of Commissioner. Additionally, her public engagement on climate communication and action is wide-ranging, spanning youth development (GM100; MMU Careers); panels (MMU – Global Science, Local Impact: Smart Cities; YHCC Climate Action Plan); and festivals (Blue Dot; Kendal Mountain Festival; ARS Electronica).

Helen is our Head of Operations; she oversees the recruitment and management of our volunteer team, as well as supporting and delegating responsibilities to our wider team. She also coordinates our external communications, maintains our customer relationship management system and supports invoicing and outreach.

Helen began volunteering with The Carbon Literacy Project in March 2018, before joining the team as Project Administrator, later in the year, after graduating from a BA Human Geography. Prior to this Helen had undertaken Carbon Literacy training, and then become certified as a Carbon Literacy Trainer in 2017, at Manchester Metropolitan University. Helen has delivered multiple days of training to students at Manchester Met, as well as the world’s first Carbon Literacy for Labs session at The University of Manchester.

Helen is passionate about communicating to, and enlightening individuals about their potential to mitigate climate change within the various aspects of their lives, whether that be in a personal, social, professional or political capacity. Helen has also engaged the public in carbon reduction at Blue Dot Festival, and undertook a year of study at California State University San Marcos.

Fiona started volunteering with The Carbon Literacy Project in November 2017 and joined the team as our Certification and IT Coordinator in May 2019. Now our Head of IT & Systems, Fiona works to develop and maintain our IT and email systems.

Natalia began volunteering with The Carbon Literacy Project in June 2018 and joined the team as our Public Sector Coordinator in May 2019, with Natalia’s work focuses on coordinating the development of the BEIS (Government Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy) funded suite of Carbon Literacy Public Sector Toolkits, then the piloting and wider roll-out of the materials.

Now our Head of Sectoral Development, Natalia leads our Sector Toolkits Team which has expanded from the initial five Public Sector Toolkits to incorporate further Public and Private Sectors. Natalia’s work involves supporting the Sectoral Coordinators with the continued outreach and support for their sectors, and working with our partner organisations to pioneer Carbon Literacy Toolkits in new sectors.

In June 2019, Louise started volunteering for us one day a week. After almost a year, in May 2020, Louise joined the team as our part-time Project Officer. Her work focussed on general project assistance, with key responsibilities in criteria checking, certification, customer relations and project queries. Louise moved into supporting the Sector Toolkits Team before taking the lead on our work across health and blue light services as our Healthcare Coordinator.

Louise studied Environmental Management and Sustainability at Manchester Metropolitan University. She undertook the University’s Train the Trainer programme to become a qualified CLT and became immediately interested in the work being done by both The Project, other organisations, and especially partnering universities. Her final year studies focussed on environmental education and education for sustainability, whilst completing her final year research project on the impact of the ‘Carbon Literacy for Students’ scheme at MMU.

Chloe is our Higher Education Coordinator, advocating for and supporting universities to roll out Carbon Literacy training. Chloe has been working in the Higher education sector since 2015, through many roles across Manchester Metropolitan University involving student recruitment, peer mentoring, sustainability engagement, and research. More recently she worked as Project Manager within the educational charity Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS-UK), where she oversaw programmes such as Green Impact at universities, hospitals and community organisations. Chloe is a keen activist who supports many campaigns within Manchester and previously volunteered as Regional Organiser for student campaigning charity, People and Planet. Chloe is a certified Carbon Literacy Trainer and IEMA Registered Trainer with expertise in developing and delivering bespoke training packages within educational and charitable sectors. She volunteered for The Carbon Literacy Project in 2017 alongside studying for her BSc in Ecology and Conservation at Manchester Met and Chairing their Environment Society.

Chloe is passionate about education reform, youth empowerment, and weird and wonderful ways of communicating sustainability issues to others. She has lots of experience in engaging a wide range of audiences on issues relating to sustainable development and youth empowerment at universities; colleges; schools; conferences (EAUC; Triple Helix); charitable organisations (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust; People and Planet); festivals (Blue Dot; Manchester Festival of Nature); The BBC (Breakfast Show). Her extensive public engagement work was recognised by Manchester Met where she won their Science Communication Champion Award in 2019.

Catherine is our Action Day Coordinator and Communications Officer. After being introduced to The Project in February 2020, Catherine volunteered as a Social Media Assistant upon completion of her degree in Marketing, and then worked as part of the Criteria Checking team. Since then, Catherine has begun working full-time coordinating the Carbon Literacy Action Day – the largest ever climate education training event, which is taking place in November 2021 to coincide with the first day of COP26. Additionally, as a Communications Officer, Catherine enjoys assisting in writing press releases and sharing environmental focussed communications, while liaising with a range of media outlets to promote Carbon Literacy.

William started volunteering with The Carbon Literacy Project in August 2019, completing a summer internship before continuing to volunteer remotely alongside his studies. Whilst volunteering, he assisted with reviewing and updating the Carbon Literacy Knowledge: E-Learning framework, developed Carbon Literacy resources, and supported the creation of the BEIS-funded Carbon Literacy Public Sector Toolkits. He holds a BSc in Human and Physical Geography from the University of Reading. His thesis for his MSc in Climate Change and Development involved investigating how UK businesses are responding to the climate emergency. After completing his MSc at the University of Reading in October 2020, he joined the Public Sector Team.

After a change in career direction and much time spent undertaking online courses related to environmental matters, Ruth began volunteering with The Carbon Literacy Project in January 2021 and joined the team as Project Officer in June of the same year. Ruth’s work focuses on helping to develop a new toolkit for the automotive industry alongside organisational partner Auto Trader.

Ruth’s academic background is in chemistry, in which she holds a Masters.

Vydune’s Carbon Literacy Project journey began volunteering, mainly focussing upon evidence processing. Her work now revolves around coordinating accreditations for trainers, organisations and CL courses, supporting our volunteers and placement students while also managing customer relationships.

Vydune graduated in BSc Psychology and later went on to complete a Masters in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development. This combination has fuelled a wide breadth of interests ranging from Individual and neuropsychology to mental health and climate action.

She is an outdoor enthusiast and a keen adventurer, having travelled and volunteered across the globe. She has creatively engaged numerous audiences in England and Bangladesh with sustainability topics, via community events and workshops. Having learnt Spanish just before joining the team, she has played a key role in the accreditation of the first-ever Spanish CL course. She is excited about the international growth of Carbon Literacy and the prospect of working together to find solutions to mitigate the climate crisis.

Jack began volunteering for The Carbon Literacy Project in August 2020 whilst completing a Master’s in Environmental Governance at the University of Manchester, joining the Sector Toolkits team as Museums Coordinator a year later. Since joining, Jack’s work has included overseeing the development of a new Carbon Literacy Toolkit for the museum sector with partner organisation Museum Development North West as part of the Roots and Branches project.

Jack started his career in third sector and arts marketing, but decided to return to university to explore his interest in the environment. He retains a keen interest in the intersection between culture, social justice, and environmental issues.

Ellie is the Finance Officer for The Carbon Literacy Project; she is responsible for several duties related to managing financial records, keeping the books, invoicing and payments.

Ellie joined the team as Bookkeeper in 2020 on a part-time basis, to help further her experience in the wider environmental and sustainability sector, alongside interning at the Manchester Climate Change Agency, after graduating with a BSc Geography from Manchester Metropolitan University. She moved into the role of Finance Office in 2022.

Ellie’s experience within the wider environmental and sustainability sector includes: Work with Manchester Climate Change Agency – Ellie is currently the Programme and Finance officer at MCCA, where she is responsible for the smooth running of the day-to-day operations of the Agency and working all workstreams to strengthen climate change action across the City. Ellie also took part in the Uprising Environmental Leaders Programme over 2021.

Since Ned’s introduction to Carbon Literacy in 2015 on a student-focused course, he became one of the first certified Carbon Literacy Trainers. He also volunteered with The Carbon Literacy Project, in 2016, alongside his studies towards BSc Environmental Management & Sustainability at Manchester Metropolitan University. Having since assisted on Carbon Literacy delivery for a number of Manchester-based courses, and then earned his MSc Sustainability, Culture & Development from Durham University, Ned’s passion for environmental outreach and sustainability education has only grown. With The Carbon Literacy Project team and scope of work continuing to grow, Ned joined the team in July 2020.

Lucia is our Communications Officer. Lucia began volunteering with The Carbon Literacy Project in April 2021 as a part-time social media volunteer, organising the creation of content and copy across all our social media platforms to grow awareness of, and engagement with, Carbon Literacy. With her interest in the use of communications to foster climate action across communities and organisations piqued by the position, Lucia joined the Carbon Literacy staff team in August 2021 as our Communications Officer. She continues to run our social media and assists with wider marketing and communications, including press and media.

Nicola is a Project Officer with The Carbon Literacy Project, working within the Sectoral Toolkit Team. She researches and develops Carbon Literacy training resources, and has overseen the development of a new Carbon Literacy Toolkit for Elected Members alongside supporting the creation of the BEIS-funded Carbon Literacy Public Sector Toolkits.

Nicola has a background in science communications and studied physics at the University of Manchester. She went on to become a project manager in various sectors, ultimately focusing on the environmental issues surrounding land use and agriculture after becoming acutely aware of climate change as the defining issue of our time. She also works as a Carbon Literacy trainer within the food sector working with organisations like Proper, Fairtrade Manchester and Quorn.

Annie trained as a Carbon Literacy Trainer in her first year of BSc Ecology & Conservation at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). She went on to have various roles facilitating the delivery of Carbon Literacy to MMU students, staff and others in the community, including providing admin support for the evidence review and certification process.

After graduating in 2020, she wanted to continue her involvement with Carbon Literacy so started volunteering on the Certification Team in February 2021. In August 2021 Annie began working part-time as a Project Officer, and since then, has joined Carbon Literacy as the full-time Certification Coordinator. She is responsible for overseeing the certification process, and supporting and developing the volunteering team.