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.

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.

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.

Catherine Faulks
Catherine has supported and worked with the WFN for the past 5 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.

Staff

Georgina Ponder - Director
Georgina is an Oxford University graduate and holds an MSc Conservation from UCL.  Her dissertation focused on the illegal hunting of birds in Malta in relation to the EU Birds Directive.  She has experience in PR, environmental education and worked for several London-based conservation charities before joining WFN in July 2004.

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. 

Julia Mizen - Finance Officer

An expert book keeper, Julia has a background working in the City of London and joined the Whitley Fund for Nature in March 2005 as Finance Officer.