Heidi brings over 15 years’ experience of advising UK and international government bodies and stakeholders, with regards to fisheries and conservation. She will be using her expertise, leadership and analytical skills to help develop and build on ERC’s core business and will be invaluable in helping us to deliver across our portfolio of work.

Heidi is a fisheries scientist with significant experience in the translation of science and evidence to policy and operational plans.  She has over a decade of experience advising UK Government bodies and stakeholders, in particular the fishing industry, on how to operationalise UK and EU fisheries and marine conservation policy and regulations at a local and national scale. Working closely with regulators and managers, she developed environmental risk assessments and management plans which would enable conservation objectives for protected species and habitats in marine protected areas (MPAs) to be achieved whilst maintaining sustainable fishing activities.

Heidi led a team of more than 50 specialists in the identification and provision of high-quality scientific advice for over 60 MPAs which would complete the UK’s ecologically coherent network or ‘blue belt’.  Heidi was one of the senior experts who helped developed Natural England’s (UK Government Statutory Nature Conservation Body) Conservation Advice for MPAs, which provides an evidence based approach to the assessment of interactions between marine activities, plans and projects and the protected features of an MPA network.

While working for Defra, she developed policy and technical regulations, working closely with UK fisheries stakeholders and other EU Member States, to implement the EU’s Landing Obligation (discard ban) through strategic and technical plans and legislation, as well as laying the foundations for a new national discards policy. Heidi provided technical advice to the UK Government’s annual fisheries negotiations with the European Commission, representing the UK Government at multilateral working groups and consultation meetings.

Heidi was the Managing Director of Macallister-Elliott and Partners (MEP), a UK based fisheries consultancy prior to joining ERC recently.   Consultancy has enabled Heidi to apply her expertise, leadership and analytical skills to the management and delivery of numerous projects across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and South Atlantic. Heidi has delivered evidence-based, pragmatic and best practice recommendations on how Governments, conservation bodies, development agencies and private businesses can improve policy, management, operations, infrastructure and supporting services to achieve sustainable resource exploitation, minimise environmental impacts and to maximise socio-economic benefits.