Jamie Agombar
Ethical and Envionmental Manager
Jamie has provided leadership on ethical and environmental issues for NUS since 2003, including developing our award-winning supplier assessment and development process, and our Green Impact environmental accreditation scheme.
He has also overseen delivery of over £1.5m of grant-funded sustainability projects in the sector, plus several key research projects.
Jamie is very well connected in the sector, sitting on:
- NUS Services’ Ethical & Environmental Committee
- the Green Gown Awards Steering Group
- the Carbon Trust’s Higher Education Carbon Management Programme Steering Group
- EAUC’s Membership Advisory Council
- HEFCE’s Sustainable Development Steering Committee
- Higher Education Academy’s Sustainable Development Advisory Group
- UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development Forum
- the Sustainable Procurement Centre of Excellence for Higher Education Steering Group
- DEFRA’s Consumer Representatives’ Group
- DECC’s Green Deal Building Forum for the Private Rented Sector
- And University of Bradford’s Ecoversity’s Scrutiny Board
Charlotte Barrow
Project Officer - Green Impact
Originally from the west coast of Canada, Charlotte moved to London in June 2010 and joined the NUS E&E department in the role of Green Impact Officer. She also co-ordinates the Snap it Off project, raising awareness of energy wasted through unnecessary lighting.
Prior to this, Charlotte has worked on diverse projects including policy lobbying around forestry management issues on Vancouver Island; implementation of an environmental journalism section at the University of Victoria’s newspaper; and environmental consulting for a start-up company. For her Master’s thesis, Charlotte performed field research on open source design and the social and ecological impacts of housing on the lower middle class in Ghana. She was selected along with three colleagues to introduce environmental best practices to a product design company in Stockholm. She has also participated in an AIDS awareness campaign in Tanzania.
Charlotte has a BA in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island, B.C. and a MSc in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability from the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden.
Charlotte Bonner
Development Manager - Green Impact
Charlotte has been leading the Green Impact team since she joined NUS is February 2010. She has many hats - expanding the model in universities and colleges, developing Green Impact to provide students greater opportunities in their local communities, helping new sectors get on board with our programmes, overseeing our software development and making partnerships with other like minded organisations.
Prior to working for the NUS group, Charlotte worked as an environmental consultant for NIFES Consulting Group; travel planning, conducting waste and energy audits and running awareness campaigns. She previously was the Environment and Ethics Officer for York University Students' Union whilst studying for her Linguistics degree. She’s been talking about finishing her Masters degree in Energy and Environmental Technology and Economics for far too long.
In both her personal and professional lives, Charlotte is known for her love of cakes and her many bicycles. She’s often found taking part in pub quizzes and is currently on a 10-month sabbatical trying to travel as far around the world as possible without flying.
Rachel Drayson
Environmental Researcher
Rachel forms part of the research department, working closely with the Ethical and Environmental team.
Rachel has five years experience of working in environmental and sustainability research have previously worked for Brook Lyndhurst, a specialist sustainability research consultancy. Her research skills have also been developed throughout her educational career, having gained a BA (Hons) in Geography from Durham University and an MSc in Environment, Science and Society from University College London. Rachel has developed both qualitative and quantitative research skills through working on a range of different project including community action on environmental issues such as climate change, evaluating behaviour change and communicating environmental issues with SMEs.
She uses these skills and experience to develop NUS Services Environmental Research Package, along with supporting the research team on a variety of funded environmental research projects.
Rich Gorman
Project Officer - Student Switch Off
Rich is one of the Student Switch Off Project Officers. Rich looks after 10 Universities around the North of England and Northern Ireland, travelling around the rainy North making sure students don’t overfill the kettle when they make a cuppa, encouraging bitter rivalries between halls with some friendly energy saving competition and giving out ice cream to students who do their bit for the planet.
Rich used to be a Sabb at Bangor SU (in North Wales) with a remit focussing heavily on sustainability, earning him the nickname Vice President for Trees amongst the other officers. During his two successive terms Rich took Bangor from bronze level Green Impact to Best Non-Commercial Union in the UK in 2012 (which is the best category anyway) and picked up The Ecologist Communications Challenge Award and The Co-Operative Most Improved Union Award along the way as well.
Rich enjoys a good cup of tea (Fairtrade, obviously) and wandering around the Welsh countryside with his dog (a whippet). Rich also has a penchant for obscure sub-genres of heavy metal music, mainly bands that sing about Vikings and the like. He can never quite make his mind up about just what is his favourite tree; it’s currently a tie between the English Oak and the Japanese Acer.
Neil Jennings
Programme Manager - Student Switch Off
Neil is the Programme Manager of the Student Switch Off campaign - encouraging students in halls across the country to do their bit to save energy when living in halls of residence.
While undertaking a PhD at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Neil set up the Student Switch Off campaign to try and encourage others to reduce their impact on climate change.
Neil likes dressing up and has featured on the BBC homepage dressed in spandex and on the North Pole dressed as a polar bear. Fortunately there weren't any polar bears in heat that day!
Jo Kemp
Programme Manager - Green Impact
Jo manages Green Impact nationally, working with staff and students to constantly evolve the programme across our existing and potential educational and community organisations. Jo heads up the team to help deliver Green Impact in line with NUS’s wider strategy and aims for students unions to become hubs for sustainability within their institutions and communities.
Jo has a BA in Geography form the University of Sheffield, and an MA in International Development and Education from the University of East Anglia. Before joining NUS in 2011, Jo spent 3 years heading up the education sector work at Change Agents UK, formerly StudentForce for Sustainability. She led their involvement with the Defra Funded Degrees Cooler programme, and was responsible for placing and developing training for over 40 graduates across UK Universities to be agents of change within the sector.
She has also previously taught English as a foreign language, and spent time working with rural sustainable farmers' cooperatives in Uganda. From her base in Lincolnshire, Jo also keeps her hand in volunteering with the Royal Geographical Society, Eco Schools and local Fair Trade groups, whilst trying to find time to bake for the team and attempt to grow her own crop of veggies!
Agnes Knoll
Project Officer - Student Eats
Ágnes Knoll is Project Officer for “Student Eats”, assisting 18 institutions growing food. Initially this includes setting up gardens and growing societies, determining vegetable crops, creating growing plans and advising on what will or won’t work. Later the focus will be on encouraging sharing of growing experience and learning between participants, setting up box schemes for the sale of produce, organising cooking events, and widening community involvement.
Ágnes took her second MSc with University of Manchester in Environmental Science and Policy, but she started life as a biochemist. She has been running vegetable and fruit growing schemes since 1992, having run a Victorian walled garden complete with greenhouses, and the School Orchard Project. Garden design and landscaping projects with local community involvement also led her to organise celebrated public events. Ágnes’ awards include a prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show medal. As a trainer for the Royal Horticultural Society, she passes on knowledge of food growing.
When not growing, she most enjoys seeing wildflowers and the creatures they attract, while rambling on hills, vales, downs, or along the coast.
Jade Monroe
Project Officer - Student Switch Off
Jade works within the Ethical and Environmental Department as a Student Switch Off Project Officer. Jade will be running the halls energy saving campaign at 11 universities across the UK.
Although new to the team Jade spent the last year running the Student Switch Off campaign alongside many other environmental projects at the University of the West of Scotland, as part of the Transition University movement. Jade is excited that she will still get to spend lots of time in Scotland this year as she is managing the Student Switch Off campaign at two Scottish universities.
Prior to this Jade studied for a BSc and MSc in Environmental Management. She started her studies a little later than most after a backpacking gap year turned into a four year working and world travelling stint. Jade now prefers to take her Brompton bicycle on the train for camping and rock climbing trips.
Aakash Naik
Project Officer - Student Switch Off
Kash is a recent additition, joining the Student Switch Off Campaign as a Project Officer. Kash works with a number of universities helping students go green by saving energy and recycling, rewarding some with ice cream, chocolates and lots of other cool prizes too.
Prior to this, Kash volunteered with Restless Development as an International Project Leader in Nepal, working with school children, local women's groups and environmental groups. Kash was also a sabbatical officer at the University of Portsmouth Students' Union. Kash has also been a youth advisor for the Department For Energy and Climate Change and a youth delagate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009.
When Kash isn't saving the planet, he's usually being a music snob, drooling over fixed-gear bikes he can't afford, looking at pictures of dogs with beards (not during work time of course) and he's also a part-time Manchester United fan, even though he's never lived in Manchester.
Sophia Perkins
Project Officer - Green Impact
Sophia joined the team as a Green Impact Project Officer, and works with institutions involved in the NUS Green Impact programme such as Universities and Colleges, Students’ Unions, Local Authorities and NHS Trusts. Sophia is based mainly in the Macclesfield office.
She joined the NUS from her role at MERCi, a Northwest sustainability charity. There Sophia worked with Third Sector organisations to help promote sustainable behaviour best practise, through audits, reports and training. Sophia also worked on a variety of projects such as flax growing on brown field sites in central Manchester and designing and implementing a campaign encouraging recycling in council owned tower blocks.
Sophia has an MSc in Architecture: Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies from the Centre for Alternative Technology and a BA [Hons] in History from Leeds University. When not planning a green revolution (?!) Sophia likes to get into the fresh air as much as possible, climbing big hills with pub lunch rewards. She also loves to travel, go climbing and do trapeze, although not always elegantly!
Joanna Romanowicz
Senior Project Officer - Green Impact
Joanna is London based and has been working for the Green Impact team since October 2010. Her role involves supporting a number of universities and colleges in the Green Impact Universities and Colleges programme, running and coordinating the Green Impact Students’ Unions programme and managing the fantastic team of Green Impact Project Officers.
Prior to working at NUS, Joanna worked in the sustainability team at the University of Westminster as Greener Living Assistant and later Sustainability Officer. Joanna has an experience of working in different sectors in an environmental role, including work at the London School of Economics, Greater London Authority, Forum for the Future, AECOM and other environmental consultancies.
Joanna has a degree in Human Sciences from the University of Oxford and a Masters in Environment, Science and Society from UCL. In her spare time, Joanna enjoys hiking and camping, long cycle rides, yoga, learning French and playing tennis!
Jesse Scharf
Project Officer - Student Switch Off
Jesse is a Project Officer for Student Switch Off, overseeing the campaign at eleven universities in England and Wales.
Previously Jesse has held a variety of roles in the higher education sustainably sector, working at both Kingston University developing their Green Impact programme and the University of Roehampton delivering Degrees Cooler– a DEFRA funded project building the universities environmental management and communication capacity. Other experiences include an international placement with the Delaware Valley Green Building Council, Philadelphia, USA and voluntary work with a community group to create a solar panel buying club. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Human Geography and Town Planning from Cardiff University.
Outside work Jesse enjoys exploring London’s culinary delights by trying to sample food from every country in the world. When the weather allows he likes getting out of the city for a bike ride, 5-a-side football and eating ice cream and reading books in the park.
Sophie Sharp
Ethical Supply Chain Coordinator
Sophie is the Ethical Supply Chain Coordinator, joining the NUS Group in April 2012. Sophie is responsible for the development of the Ethical Supply Chain Programme for NUS Services, which maximises the influence of commercial relationships to encourage and improve ethical and environmental responsibility. Her role also involves leading constructive engagement with suppliers, helping resolve contentious issues through meaningful, two-way dialogue.
Prior to joining NUS, Sophie spent 3 years as the Policy & Relationship Manager for NQC, supporting Central Government departments and other large organisations to assess and develop supply chain responsibility. She has also worked for a number of organisations focussed on sustainability and international development, including a role as an Environmental Project Manager for Raleigh International in Malaysia and a role with the Centre for Sustainability Leadership in Australia. Prior to pursuing a career in sustainability, Sophie also worked within the advertising and communications industry for several years.
Sophie has a BA in Screen Studies from Liverpool John Moore’s University and a Diploma in International Development and Business Innovation from the Open University. Her two big loves are travel and mountains, and all is well in her world when the two can be combined.
Jen Strong
Project Officer - Green Impact
Jen joined the team as a Green Impact Project Officers in 2012/13 and is based at the NUS Macclesfield office. She can be found visiting universities, hospitals and local authorities across the country supporting them to make their Green Impact involvement bigger and better than before or helping them through the first steps of implementing an environmental behaviour change initiative.
Whilst new to the NUS, Jen is no stranger to Green Impact as she was the Sustainable Behaviour Assistant at Manchester Metropolitan University. Following this she moved to Nottingham where she number crunched her way through carbon accounting reports for NHS clients, as well as coordinating sustainable procurement training and support during her time at the Nottingham Energy Partnership, a charity and social enterprise based in the East Midlands. Jen also has experience in teaching English as a foreign language as well as providing environmental support within the civil engineering sector.
Jen is a graduate of LSE where she studied Environmental Policy with Economics, is an associate member of IEMA and enjoys spending her spare time being crafty sewing and knitting homemade things for friends and family.
Charlotte Taylor
Community Project Officer - Green Impact
Charlotte is the Community Project Officer for Green Impact, leading on our pilots in new sectors and internationally, looking for ways to expand the programme in the community while also supporting some of the Green Impact Universities. The NUS representative in the Greener Jobs Alliance, she is interested in Green Skills and training, and heads up the Green Impact Project Assistant scheme which aims to give students experience of the environmental workplace while developing valuable transferable skills.
Prior to working at NUS, she worked at the University of Worcester as their Sustainability Intern running the Green Impact and Student Switch Off projects at the University. This role also involved collecting and helping to analyse the carbon footprint data for the University, and working with the Environment Committee on embedding sustainability in university management policies. Alongside this she spent her time volunteering for Mentor Link, a local charity which mentors children and young adults struggling with school or home life.
Charlotte graduated from Leeds University in 2010 with a BA in Music. Her spare time is spent playing violin, cooking (and eating), doing yoga, and trying really hard to be cultural.
Emily Thompson-Bell
Senior Project Officer - Student Switch Off
Emily is the Senior Project Officer for the Student Switch Off energy-saving campaign. Her role involves supporting the three Project Officers and managing the Student Switch Off at ten universities across the UK. Prior to this position, Emily was one of the Campaign Coordinators for the Student Switch Off for two years.
She has experience working within Students’ Unions and universities as both a campaigning sabbatical officer at Reading University Students’ Union, and as a member of the People & Planet Management Committee. In her spare time Emily works as a TEFL teacher and practices yoga.
Russell Warfield
Sustainability Communications Asssistant
Russell is the Sustainability Communications Assistant within the Ethical and Environmental Department, working to make sure that people know about the amazing work achieved by people engaging with Greener NUS initiatives across universities and colleges, students’ unions, and other locations in the wider community.
Prior to this position, Russell interned as the PR and Communications Officer with national food waste charity FoodCycle – a social enterprise which reclaims surplus food from supermarkets, and creates nutritious three course meals for people in the community affected by food poverty. Russell has also been involved with Llangattock Green Valleys – an organisation of local residents committed to turning the village into a carbon negative community.
Russell has a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Leeds, and enjoys writing hipster music journalism in his spare time. Russell contends that ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys is the best song ever written, but he may well change his mind about this. Russell also claims that ‘We Are Family’ by Sister Sledge is the worst song ever written. He has no plans to change his mind about this.
Laura Williams
Project Officer - Green Impact
Laura is one of our Macclesfield based Green Impact Project Officers. In this role she does everything possible to support our participating student unions, universities, colleges, local authorities and NHS Trusts in their quests to make a Green Impact in their organisations.
Before joining the team, she had been involved with Green Impact through a number of her previous roles! As Campaigns Officer at the University of Manchester Students Union she successfully campaigned to encourage the University to sign up to the initiative and went on to run Green Impact on the ground at Manchester Metropolitan University. She also spent time working for Manchester based charity Action for Sustainable Living researching and developing behaviour change programmes and in Nigeria working on HIV/AIDs awareness campaigns for VSO.
Laura holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester. She finds reading, singing with her choir and sweet treats are the perfect way to distract herself from these bamboozling subjects when it all gets too much!