SPEAKERS
Tuesday 3rd November
Dr Richard Howells, Scottish Government Marine Directorate
ACCE Alumni Talk
Rich graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2018 with his PhD in Marine Biology & Biological Oceanography. He joins us at the ACCE conference to discuss his career journey since graduating from ACCE and what it's like to work in policy and renewables.
After some years working in ornithology, Rich now works as the Strategic Compensatory Measures Science Advice Lead within the Renewables and Ecology Team, at the Scottish Government's Marine Directorate. He works across policy areas within Scottish Government and with key stakeholders to help deliver sustainable renewable energy and achieve Scotland's Net Zero Targets.
Professor Lorna Hamilton, York St John University
Neurodiversity EDI session
Approximately one in seven people – around 15% of the population – are neurodivergent. Neurodiversity describes the different ways that people’s brains function, learn and process information, and includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia.
Professor Lorna Hamilton is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on neurodiversity in educational contexts. She leads the ReNEW (Research on Neurodiversity, Environment and Wellbeing) group at York St John University, bringing together research and practice to explore how we can create more enabling environments for neurodivergent people. She also co-leads Project INC (Inclusive Neurodiverse Campus), a collaboration between York St John University and Spectrum First that aims to improve neuro-inclusion across universities.
For more information on Lorna's work, please see York St John website
Wednesday 4th November
Professor Alastair Fitter CBE FRS, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust & University of York
Plenary
Alastair is President of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Professor Emeritus of Ecology at University of York, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He has wide-ranging research interests, including soil and plant ecology, and the symbiotic relationship between plant roots and fungi. Alastair was awarded a CBE in 2007 for services to environmental science.
As well as being home to two of ACCE’s universities and this year’s host, Yorkshire is home to two-thirds of all British plants, animals and fungi – around 45,000 species! Alastair will join us to talk about the State of Yorkshire's Nature Report and why Yorkshire is so important for Britain’s nature.
Tuesday 3rd November
Pippa Stacey, Life of Pippa
Disability EDI session
Disability can take many forms, from visible physical and sensory disabilities to non-visible disabilities, chronic illnesses and energy limiting conditions. People’s experiences and accessibility needs can vary widely and may fluctuate over time.
Pippa is an award-winning author, speaker, and content creator, a communication consultant in the charity sector, and one of the UK’s leading voices in Energy Limiting Conditions. She lives with a long-term health condition herself and draws on lived experience to explore how people can live fulfilling lives alongside chronic illness. Through her talks and writing, Pippa explores how to balance ambition, rest and self-compassion while living with disability, and highlights ways that organisations and individuals can create greater inclusion and understanding.
For more information on Pippa's work, please see www.lifeofpippa.co.uk
Dr Dom Henri, University of Hull
Educational games interactive session
Dom is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Hull, National Teaching Fellow (2021), Principal Fellow of the HEA (2025), and a previous winner of the Royal Society of Biology’s Higher Education Teacher of the Year award (2018). He has a wide variety of interests across ecology and conservation including entomology, sustainable agriculture, animal behaviour.
Dom’s also focuses on pedagogic research enhancing teaching and assessment in higher education. As part of this research, Dom and colleagues have created games that allow players to experience the complexity of real-world wildlife management scenarios and explore the effectiveness of different management policies (e.g. protected areas versus size-based harvest limits). Dom will discuss working in education, discuss some research – and we will play-test Wildlife Manager and DeFISHient!
For more information on Dom's work, please see the University of Hull