ACT (Advocate Climate Taskforce)
ACT supports the University in meeting its sustainability commitments by providing academic expertise and supporting the development and delivery of Sustainability Action Plans for Faculties and Professional Services Divisions. The members have been appointed by the University for their outstanding academic leadership to work with the Provost, Registrar and Director of Sustainability in the role of Sustainability Advocate. Each member contributes to the work of the ACT to progress challenging and transformational change, supporting the delivery of the University’s sustainability commitments, including its net-zero target and nature positive goals. The Guild and SU are represented on ACT and their members change annually. Please find ACT Terms of Reference here.
Please meet ACT members below. If you have any questions relating to ACT, please contact sustainability@exeter.ac.uk
I am the co-chair of ACT and chair of the Offsetting Task & Finish group. As a climate modeller, I am especially interested in helping the university get to Net Zero while leaving as much fossil carbon in the ground as is possible.
I am an Associate Professor in Renewable Energy and Joint Chair of the Advocate Climate Task Force (ACT). I am deeply committed to environmental sustainability and view the ACT as a critical vehicle for advancing the university’s net-zero and nature-positive goals. Through this role, I help to shape institutional strategy, embed sustainability values across the organisation, and drive a transformative culture shift—aligning academic practices and campus operations with Exeter’s long-term environmental commitments.
I am Senior Vice-President and Provost and I co-Chair the University’s Climate and Environment Crisis Board (CEC) alongside Mike Shore-Nye (Senior-Vice President and Registrar). CEC reports into the University Executive Board (UEB) and Mike and I are also joint UEB leads for sustainability My role on ACT is to provide input and advice to ACT from a senior leadership team perspective and to ensure a strong link between ACT, the CEC and UEB.
I am an Associate Professor of Geography, whose work focuses on the role of social learning in providing new, and often valuable, perspectives on environmental issues that are not always accessible through scientific practices alone. I am also an Advocate for Sustainability Education at Exeter, leading university efforts to embed transformative pedagogies and practices within higher education. Through the Advocate Climate Taskforce, I seek to advance the decarbonisation of curricula.
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I am a Professor of Climate Science and serve as the Sustainable Research Advocate on the ACT. I lead the Sustainable Research Thematic Forum, which supports the University in achieving its ambition to continue delivering cutting-edge research, but in a more environmentally responsible and sustainable way.
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As Sustainability Advocate for Global Exeter, my role on ACT focuses on advocating for transformational change to improve the sustainability of Exeter’s global ambitions and international partnerships. I work collaboratively with academic and professional services colleagues to develop and implement initiatives to reduce the carbon and environmental footprint of international activities, and to align Global Exeter strategy with environment and climate emergency policy and I am also Co-Director of Global Engagement for the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Tom Tregenza
I am the ACT representative for the Penryn Campus in Cornwall. My role is to drive greater environmental sustainability of all operations on the Penryn campus in partnership with our colleagues in Falmouth University and the campus management team at FXPlus.
I joined the University in January 2025 as Dean of University of Exeter Business School and as a Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy (ESE). Since August 2025, I have Chaired the ESE Faculty Sustainability Committee which aims to make meaningful sustainable interventions to our practices that are consistent with wider University initiatives in relation to waste, recycling, and emissions.
I am an Associate Professor of Sustainable Energy Policy in the Renewable Energy group in Engineering. My research is focussed on all aspects of decarbonising heat and electricity across society, including the integration of new technologies into our society, homes and businesses and the changes required to current delivery to enable decarbonisation. I teach our renewable energy engineers about policy so that they understand both the technology and its place in society.
I am the Chair of Sustainability for the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. I also conduct research into the governance for sustainable development and transitions; and is co-Investigator on a number of research projects exploring governance for sustainability transitions. I also teach undergraduate, postgraduate and professional learners at Exeter in and around sustainability and sustainable development – with a special interest in experimental active learning pedagogies.
Duncan Russel
I am Deputy Director of Faculty Operations in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Alongside Rich Smith, I co-chair the Faculty Sustainability Committee and in that role, is a member of the ACT.
Professor Richard Smith
I am Professor of Public Health Economics and Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. I co-Chair with Jo Shuttleworth of the Faculty Sustainability Committee, and in this role is on the ACT. I am also a member of the University Climate Emergency Committee. One of my research interests is the intersection of health with the environment and sustainability, including as part of the new Net Positive Centre (https://netpositivecentre.com/)
Natalia Lawrence
I am the academic climate advocate for HLS. I support the University and HLS Faculty in developing and delivering their sustainability strategies and action plans. I liaise with several HLS departments and have a particular focus on increasing sustainability in education and providing academic expertise on sustainable behaviour change, particularly in relation to food and diet.
Tim Taylor
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I am Professor of Environmental and Public Health Economics and Director of the UKRI Centre for Net Positive Health and Climate Solutions. On ACT, I am an Academic member representing the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. I sit on the HLS Sustainability Committee and is also point of contact for Exeter's membership of the Planetary Health Alliance.
I am the student representative for HLS on the ACT. My role is to be a voice for students to aid the development of Sustainability Action Plans, to advocate culture change, and to highlight student-led opportunities to deliver sustainability initiatives.
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I am Professor of Ecology in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on the University’s Cornwall Campus. I am also Chair of the University’s Nature Positive Task & Finish Group. We dedicate our time to baseline and ongoing monitoring of biodiversity on the University’s estate; measuring the University’s local and global biodiversity footprint; creating Biodiversity Action Plans; and offering guidance to University staff and students on how to work with nature and be nature positive in all our ambitions.
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I'm the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Culture Change for Sustainability and the SPSPA representative on the HASS Sustainability Committee. I'm also a part of the Research Thematic Forum for Sustainability.
I'm chair of the Climate Change Adaptation Task and Finish Team. Adapting to climate change is something all organisations urgently need to grapple with, and we hope the University of Exeter can set an example in this.
Professor Stewart Barr
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I am an academic staff member of the ACT. As a geographer and social scientist, I provide expertise on understanding the ways in which we can promote cultural and behavioural changes to reduce our environmental impact. I chaired the University's Enabling Rail Travel Task & Finish Group and was a member of the Field Course Task & Finish Group, both of which aimed to make recommendations to reduce the impact of University-related travel.
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I am lecturer in environmental economics, studying, designing and implementing markets for the provision of environmental services via the creation and enhancement of Nature Based Solutions. On ACT, I anticipate being involved in the design of internal carbon markets, and providing expertise to develop a unified benchmark against which to measure the benefits of different mitigation approaches.
I am the Guild President and the current representative for the Exeter Students' Guild on ACT. In my role, I have the privilege of representing Exeter's 30,000+ student and advocating for their interests both locally and nationally. With my membership of ACT for the coming year, I hope to bring together our shared expertise and care for Sustainability to further enhance student experience.
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I’m the University’s Director of Sustainability and provide strategic direction to the University on sustainability matters. I’m responsible for developing and implementing long-term strategies, policies and plans to meet its ambitious carbon net zero and environmental net gain commitments and improve its sustainability. My role on ACT is to facilitate the link between the expertise on ACT and operational delivery. I work closely with each member to support the development and delivery of appropriate strategies and plans to progress challenging and transformational change.
I am the Assistant Director of Research Strategy, Development and Management, and a member of the Sustainable Research Thematic Forum, working to advance more environmentally responsible research practices across the institution.
I also lead TRACE, a Wellcome-funded project developing an open-source tool to estimate the carbon footprint of research projects, in collaboration with UK higher education institutions and major funders.
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My name is James Smith and I've been Head of Exeter's Global Partnerships Team since January 2023. Global Partnerships at Exeter look to create mutually beneficial partnerships that enhance our research, training, knowledge exchange and student recruitment, in pursuit of new discovery, academic excellence and transformative impact.
I was invited to join the Advocate Climate Taskforce in summer 2023 as the professional services point of contact for Global, working alongside Caitlin DeSilvey (Academic Lead for Global on the ACT). I also set up a voluntary External, Engagement, and Global Sustainability Group in 2023, which looks at how EEG can adopt more sustainable behaviors. I am passionate about looking at how Exeter can deliver our Global Strategy whilst being mindful of our declaration of a climate emergency. I believe at Exeter we have huge potential to drive positive climate and environmental action around the world, whilst also reducing the impact of our own institutional activities and behaviors. I enjoy working with the ACT to look at how the academic expertise of the ACT can help us align the priorities of our Global Strategy and our Climate Strategy to improve practice within the institution. I'm always happy to talk to anyone about global and sustainability issues.
I work as Senior IT Professional Service Partner for Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy. I am Currently Chair of IT Services Sustainability Strategy Group, a member of Professional Services Sustainability Committee (PS Circular Economy Lead), a member of Faculty of Environment Science and Economy Sustainability Committee, and a member of University Advocate Climate Taskforce (ACT). Working to facilitate university on campus Repair Cafes.
Qualifications - BSc Environmental Science (Hons), University of Exeter Circular Economy Masterclass.
