Keynote speakers

We are delighted to be able to advise keynote speakers keynote speakers have been confirmed and include Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, Dr Martin A. Blake, Head of Sustainability at Royal Mail and Stuart Heynes OBE, Director of the UK Defence Geographic Centre.

Professor Jacqueline McGlade

Jacqueline McGlade is Executive Director of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen since 2003; she is on leave from her post as Professor in Environmental Informatics in the Department of Mathematics at University College London.

Until 2003, she was a Board member of the Environment Agency of England and Wales with responsibility for Thames Region, navigation and science. Formerly she was Director of the NERC Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences, Professor of Biological Sciences at Warwick, Director of Theoretical Ecology at the Forschungszentrum Juelich and senior scientist in the federal government of Canada. Her research has focussed on the spatial and nonlinear dynamics of ecosystems, with particular reference to marine resources, climate change and scenario development.

In her non-academic life she is a mother of two daughters, director of a software development company and has written and presented a range of radio and television programmes.

Dr Martin Blake

For the last six years Martin has led the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Teams at Royal Mail, as well as designing and implementing a very successful Carbon Management Programme to combat climate change. Royal Mail is the largest single employer in the UK and it has one of the largest fleets of trucks and vans in Europe, with 35,000 vehicles and over several Boeing 737’s transporting 85 million pieces of mail every day to 27 million addresses from the Isles of Scilly to Benbecula! Royal Mail’s de-carbonisation programme is a holistic approach comprising nine interrelated projects, focusing on avoidance, reduction and replacement. The objective is for Royal Mail to eliminate 50% of its carbon footprint and become carbon neutral by 2015.

Martin has over 25 years experience in business management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability. He holds an MBA in Organisational Analysis and Strategic Management and his Doctorate in Business (DBA) focused on Organisational Change. He Chairs the ‘PostEurop’ (45 European postal authorities) sustainability committee and is a member of many government and non-government advisory panels on sustainability and climate change. He is a Member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management.

Stuart Haynes OBE

Stuart Haynes joined the MOD Mapping and Charting Establishment RE (MCE RE) as an Assistant Map Research Officer in 1974 having graduated from the City of London Polytechnic with a BA(Hons) in Geography. Early experience included a tour in the Book Library and during this period he gained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Information Science at the City University and subsequently became an Associate of the Library Association.

At the beginning of the Falklands conflict, he was transferred to the MOD Directorate of Military Survey, collecting geographic materials to support the operation. In mid 1982 he was appointed to Svy 3d, responsible for geographic procurement in the UK, Africa and the Middle East and enjoyed the mixed blessings of extensive travel throughout these areas. In 1986 he moved back to MCE RE to manage a map production section.

In 1987 promotion resulted in postings to the Systems and Techniques Unit RE, responsible for Mil Svy’s technical development programme and as Head of the MOD Map Library before going overseas as Liaison Officer (Geographic) in HQ BAOR. Responsibilities in this post included procurement activities in W Europe and support to G2 in the HQ. Highlights of the tour included the fall of the Iron Curtain and support to UK forces for the Gulf War.

Returning to the UK in 1991, he occupied a succession of posts in the development programme area and managed the geographic and geodetic research activities. In 1994 he attended the Joint Service Defence College and subsequently worked on the implementation of the Defence Costs Study within the Chief of Defence Intelligence area, before joining the personal staff of the new Director General Intelligence and Geographic Resources as Head IGR Management in April 1995.

He was promoted in September 1997 and rejoined Military Survey as Director of Geographic Information responsible for the acquisition, storage and distribution of geographic information and the international affairs of the Agency. In 2001 he was appointed Director of International Geographic Business and became a member of the DGIA Board.

In August 2003 he was appointed as Director, Defence Geographic Centre. He was appointed as Head of Profession for the Geospatial Analyst Group in the MOD in 2004. He was awarded the OBE in 2008 for services to Defence.

His interests include gardening, cacti and armchair travel. He is married to Jenny and has two children, Claire and Peter.