John is prominent scientist and public administrator who has held many influential positions. Since 2007 he has served as a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords.
John was a member of the independent, statutory body the Committee on Climate Change, and Chairman of its Adaptation Sub-Committee, from 2009 to 2017. He served as Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee from 2010 to 2014 and Chairman of the UK Science and Technology Honours Committee from 2008 to 2014. He was President of the British Science Association in 2012. He took up the chairmanship of the National Network of Science Learning Centres in 2007. From 2000–2005, he was the first Chairman of the British Food Standards Agency. He was the Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council from 1994 to 1999.
From 1988 to 2005, he was a Royal Society Research Professor in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. Prior to this he held academic posts at University of British Columbia and the University College of North Wales and the University of Oxford. He was also Principal of Jesus College, Oxford from 2005 to 2015.
His research career revealed insights into the behaviour, population biology and neuroscience of birds. His seminal contribution proved that bird species that store seeds for the winter have remarkable spatial memory, enabled by an enlarged hippocampus in comparison with other bird species. His publications include more than 130 refereed papers, 5 books, and 130 book chapters, reviews, or popular pieces.
John has an MA and a DPhil from Oxford University.
Elena leads the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) standards and policy unit. A crucial part of this work is building consensus in sustainability standards development in partnership with more than 100 organisations and companies from all sectors and all regions of the world.
Elena has 10 years of experience working with biomass, biofuel and biomaterialsustainability standards, greenhouse gas assessments and certification. Prior to the RSB, she worked for an international certification body, where she was responsible for innovation management and programmes related to biofuel sustainability certification, green electricity labels and carbon footprints.
She has also served as a technical advisor at the Alternative Fuels Task Force (AFTF) and Fuel Task Group at the International Civil Aviation Organization, and as a sustainability consultant. She regularly speaks at international conferences.
Elena has two master’s degrees in environmental and political sciences.
Esa joined Drax in September 2019 as Chief Officer Capital Projects.
He has over 25 years’ experience in the energy industry, and prior to joining Drax he was Director of Strategy, Market Development and Asset Performance for Centralised Generation at Engie.
He has extensive knowledge of project leadership of new build gas, co-generation, and nuclear power plants together with the associated infrastructure, engineering, licensing and supplier logistics, and has also led the establishment of a new energy company in Asia.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
Penny has a wealth of experience in the energy industry, and has led major integration and transformation projects, including the integration of International Power and GDF Suez.
She was previously Director of Asset Optimisation and Digital at Engie and, prior to that, was Director of Strategy and Communications.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
He is a lecturer in Sustainable Energy at the Centre for Environmental Policy with ten years’ experience in energy R&D.
Dorothy Thompson retired as Chief Executive, Drax Group on 31st December 2017 and was replaced by Will Gardiner.
