Trustees

Edward Whitley
Our founder Edward has long held an interest in the environment and is dedicated to supporting grass root conservationists around the world. Through his family’s charity, the Whitley Animal Protection Trust, Edward initiated the Whitley Awards in 1994 to provide young conservationists with the opportunity to launch their careers and develop long-lasting conservation projects. Edward is Chair of the Trustees of The Whitley Fund for Nature.

Sir David Attenborough
Perhaps Britain's best-known natural history film-maker, David’s distinguished career in broadcasting spans over 50 years. Originally a zoologist and geologist by training, David has travelled to some of the world's remotest regions, and is an enthusiastic advocate of international action to save wildlife and their habitat from destruction by human activities. Sir David was knighted in 1985. In January 2005, WFN were honoured to welcome him as a Trustee.

Tim Dye
At his farm in Hertfordshire, Tim takes an active interest in preserving woodlands, wild birds, butterflies and plants and making access to them available to local interest groups. He was previously Chief Executive of William Ransom & Son plc, which sources plant materials for botanical extraction on a sustainable basis from around the world. With his family, he also actively supports educational projects in Central Africa.

Catherine Faulks
Catherine has supported and worked with the WFN for many years and was instrumental in developing the Friends of the WFN, of which she is Chair. She has a longstanding fascination and love of wildlife and has been a Fellow of ZSL for over 20 years. Catherine ran her own business, The Special Photographers Company, for 16 years and is also a Trustee of the W11 Opera. She became a Trustee of WFN in January 2005.

Vice-patron

John Laing
A committed environmental philanthropist, John has devoted much of his career to nature conservation through his family charity the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation. In 1999, John became involved with the Whitley Awards through sponsoring several major Awards, and in 2000, he became a founder Trustee of WFN.  John stood down as trustee in April 2009 to become Vice patron of WFN.

Staff

Georgina Domberger - Director
Georgina is an Oxford University graduate and holds an MSc Conservation from UCL.  She has experience in PR, environmental education and worked for several London-based conservation charities before joining WFN in July 2004.  Georgina is also a trustee of the BBC Wildlife Fund and nominator for other environmental awards schemes.

Annabel Lea - Manager
Annabel worked for Comic Relief, a charity focused on poverty alleviation in the UK and Africa, before joining the Whitley Fund for Nature in September 2005. 

Helen Sturdy - Finance Manager

After many years of experience as an accountant in the commercial sector, Helen specialised in charity accounting and management in 2003, gaining the appropriate qualifications including the ICAEW's DChA. She joined the Whitley Fund for Nature in August 2008.