Heather is a Senior Research Manager in the Climate and Health Team at the Wellcome Trust, based in the UK. Heather has 15 years’ experience working on climate, food, and health challenges in the UK civil service, research funding and philanthropy, as well as in clinical practice as a health professional. Heather’s interests lie at the intersection of using evidence- and systems-based approaches that centre citizens’ perspectives to inform solutions to complex real-world challenges.
Prior to Wellcome, Heather worked at the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as a Senior Portfolio Manager. In this role, she worked on transnational research programmes across Europe and the Global South. Before this, Heather worked in the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the UK, providing evidence for agri-food chain policymakers whilst undertaking an MSc in Food Policy at City University of London’s Centre for Food Policy. She is an alumnus of the Interdisciplinary Food Systems Teaching and Learning (IFSTAL) Programme.
Heather originally undertook a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Surrey and worked clinically as a Dietitian in the NHS for over five years. She has worked in several clinical specialties and settings, primarily as a specialist renal dietitian. Within climate, food, and health, her interests include food security and nutrition, climate change mitigation and adaptation that protects health, social justice, and sustainable livelihoods, as well as food policy and governance.