Meet our Judges

“As a Suffolk farmer and naturalist I know first hand the richness and diversity of our wildlife and landscapes and am passionate about a natural environment full of life. I work hard to manage a landscape that is productive but also full of wildlife whilst having a little environmental impact as possible. I know the positive effect that people can have on the natural world and in turn, the effect it can have on people. Bringing people together to enjoy and appreciate the natural world is key to any successful environmental project. I am delighted to be able to judge the Suffolk, Creating the Greenest County Awards again because the awards celebrate the terrific team and individual efforts that go in to making Suffolk the wonderful, green county that it is.”

Daniel has lived in East Suffolk for most of his life and holds a lifelong passion for environmental matters particularly wildlife. He maintains a wildlife friendly garden including a wildlife pond, hedgehog highway, hotbin, and raised beds. After graduating from University of Essex in Ecology & Environmental Biology, Daniel joined the District Council’s waste management team promoting the waste hierarchy and working on waste reduction projects for a number of years, including project managing the award-winning Tip-Off Suffolk campaign, before working briefly with the Wildlife Trusts in Essex and is now the Environmental Sustainability Officer for East Suffolk Council, as well as Secretary of the Greenprint Forum and volunteer Plastic Action Champion.

“I am honoured to be asked to judge this year’s Greenest County Awards. I have a deep and abiding love for Suffolk having lived in the county since 1990. Its unique landscapes and tranquillity call out to be protected and enhanced. Since childhood I have immersed myself in nature and the outdoors wanting to care and enjoy all it has to offer. I assisted setting up Woodbridge Transition Group and Woodbridge Elmhurst Park Kitchen Community Garden. I work as the Community Support Officer for Suffolk Climate Change Partnership I daily see the amazing events and initiatives that are happening throughout the county.”

Peter Frost holds the position of Environment Strategy Officer for Suffolk County Council and is part of the Carbon Charter project. This enables Small and Medium Enterprises all over Norfolk and Suffolk to access advice and accreditation towards cutting their carbon footprint and boosting their business through improved efficiency. He is keen to spread the word about how companies can be at the forefront of the new paradigm of sustainability and how society will change in the near future. He has also been a key instigator of the ‘Plug in Suffolk’ programme to accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the county.

Abigail works on behalf of all Suffolk local authorities and public sector leaders to communicate and engage residents in the projects delivered under Suffolk’s Climate Emergency Plan. With an MSc in Sustainability undertaken with the world-famous Eden Project, and a dissertation focused on communicating climate change, Abigail is particularly focused on moving away from the typical fear-based climate messaging. Instead, she wants to inspire Suffolk residents to think about a future they would like to create, rather than one they want to prevent in the face of the climate emergency. She will no doubt be considering this perspective when judging for this year’s Creating the Greenest County Awards.

Sandra has lived and worked all her life in Suffolk, living in Ipswich for the past 30 years, with a modest summer retreat in the Waveney countryside. Originally qualifying and working in highway engineering, with a brief career in local politics, Sandra now works in Suffolk County Council’s Flood and Water Management Team developing community projects to address flood risk. She has years of hands on experience of community volunteering in not for profit small organisations, and is Trustee of Lighthouse Women’s Aid, Chair of a self-funding pop-up library, and member of a COVID prompted Good Neighbour Scheme.

Jason is the founder of Aponic Ltd one of our previous winners. He is a design engineer and programmer and has built his company by creating a turn-key controlled environment system that houses his vertical aeroponic farming equipment. His products help farmers produce sustainable, clean and consistent food 52 weeks a year, growing faster, using 95% less water and with zero run-off.

Janet has worked as both a secondary geography teacher and primary school teacher in Suffolk and Norfolk, and as an adviser for schools. Since 2011, she has worked at University College London, Faculty of Education and Society, where she teaches geography and leads on climate change and sustainability within the PGCE programme. She is also part of UCL’s Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCCSE), involved in devising CPD for teachers and engaging in research on teaching about climate change and enquiry for action. Janet is a native of Suffolk, lives in the county and volunteers in conservation.

Nadine is Head of Property Management for Vertas Group and she leads the company’s Continuous Improvement Group for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Nadine has developed the Group’s ESG policy and pledges across key business areas of People, Places, Partners, and the Planet to achieve the Group’s commitment to reach Net Zero 2030. Nadine is certified as Carbon Literate for the purposes of workplace, education, and community and is delighted to be invited to judge the Suffolk Creating the Greenest County Awards 2023.

Matthew has lived in Suffolk over the last 30 years with Claire and their children, a black labrador, chickens and sometimes a few thousand honeybees! After studying engineering at University he worked in automotive, building and environmental research and consultancy in England and New Zealand. He taught at Suffolk College before working for local government leading on environmental services, built environment and public protection. He helped set up Elmhurst Kitchen Community Garden, Transition Woodbridge and the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership. Matthew is Suffolk County Council’s Environment Strategy Manager involved in the Warm Homes Suffolk energy efficiency retrofit work, carbon budgeting and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Christine Howard Managing Director Howard Nurseries has led the company to be one of the environmental leaders in the UK horticultural industry. Howard Nurseries has been a Gold Carbon Charter member for 10 years, listed as one of Archants Green 100 members, alongside receiving The Creating the Greenest Country Water Award 2014. Christine understands the challenges of running a business alongside balancing the desire to make environmental decisions. ‘I have seen the impact of Howard’s environment decisions for inspiring our stakeholders to support Howards, alongside encouraging other businesses to start being more environmentally aware”. It has been an incredible journey.

Matt has been working in the environment sector for nearly 30 years, from planting trees and managing habitat in the 1990s to currently leading teams tackling the Climate Emergency and reducing flood risk across Suffolk.  The green tourism offer has always been strong in Suffolk and Matt is very much looking forward to discovering more about what this innovative industry is currently doing to support sustainable visits to his home county.

Emma Dixon has over 23 years of working in the environmental and sustainability sector, having worked at the Environment Agency, SCC, the Water Management Alliance before she took over the role of the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership Manager in March 2022. Emma has lots of experience when it comes to judging Green Heroes  – she ran the Awards for several years and has met literally hundreds of inspirational people from across Suffolk!

“I am already passionate about safeguarding our environment for future generations. I have worked closely with numerous environmental groups such as the Marine Conservation Society and Suffolk Wildlife Trust on a voluntary basis. My professional career with Suffolk Building Society focuses on corporate governance and more recently I have taken part in two training initiatives to improve my knowledge on Environmental, Social and Governance, to  support the Suffolk Building Society mission to protect local nature and being a safe home for savers and to provide safe homes for our communities”.

“I’m delighted to join the judging panel for this important new award focussing on the Tourism sector. My aim is to bring to the group several years of experience working with local cultural, leisure, community and tourism businesses around sector improvement and development, with strong links to regional and national tourism agencies. Moving towards a low carbon sustainable visitor economy in Suffolk is an ambition prioritised by Suffolk Growth, working with our key stakeholders and I’m passionate about making a difference to Suffolk’s sustainable tourism offer and promoting the good practice in the sector.”

Ben is Director of Wildlife Conservation and Recovery for Suffolk Wildlife Trust. He has nearly 25 years’ experience of working in the conservation sector, working in Suffolk for over a decade. He has oversight of the management of Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s 50 nature reserves and is also responsible for leading the teams that focus on species specific conservation projects, planning and advocacy work, wildlife advice across the county as well as the ecological consultancy, Wilder Ecology. He previously worked for RSPB, Environment Agency and in the commercial sector.

“I have a life-long passion for the natural environment and helping people to connect with and enjoy it. I have lived in Suffolk for over 30 years but in my professional career I have been involved in a wide variety of national and local environmental, heritage and rural development initiatives. I have been in my current role as Head of Natural & Historic Environment at Suffolk County Council since 2018. I’m delighted to be a judge for the Greenest County Awards in 2023 to help ensure that we recognise and celebrate the great work going on to enhance Suffolk’s wildlife and landscapes”.

Caroline came from an arts and education background before joining Suffolk County Council’s waste team many years ago, inspired by her interest in the natural world and the environment. She is an experienced waste communications officer and has worked on numerous behaviour change campaigns including Getting Your Recycling Right, Glass it’s Better in The Bank and Food Savvy, a campaign aiming to reduce food waste. She works across all areas of the waste service, including the household recycling facility, recycling centres and the energy from waste facility, promoting waste reduction and re-use as well as recycling. Caroline works within a really supportive team to organise large scale events including the waste presence at the Suffolk Show and Latitude Festival and uses her creativity to inspire and encourage Suffolk schools to get involved by producing amazing artwork from recycled materials for display.