Harriet Wallace has accepted appointment as Imperial’s first Director of Sustainability. Harriet began transitioning into this role in June from her previous secondment to Imperial as an Imperial Policy Fellow from the Civil Service, working with colleagues on implementing our Sustainability Strategy.
In this new role, Harriet will lead and coordinate delivery of the Sustainable Imperial initiative announced in our new Strategy, working collaboratively with colleagues across Imperial. As the Strategy set out, Imperial’s goal is to set a global benchmark for university sustainability, nurturing graduates who understand and advocate for climate science, supporting our researchers to investigate and respond to planetary challenges and leading by example in our activities and on our campuses.
Harriet will report to the Chief of Staff to the President and continue to work closely with Professor Tim Green, Academic Lead for Sustainability. The Sustainability Programme will continue to be governed by the Sustainability Strategy Committee, chaired by Professor Nigel Brandon, and supported by the central Sustainability Hub team and Sustainability leads and champions across Faculties and Professional Services.
Harriet is a scientist by training and a policy, strategy and change practitioner by profession. She has had a lifelong interest in how we can make the most of science’s potential: for understanding the world better; for solving real-world problems; and to inform and influence both policy-making and human behaviours.
She previously worked in government for many years, most recently as Director International Research and Innovation at BEIS (negotiating the Horizon Europe deal and sponsoring several Research and Funding bodies) and before that in roles on environmental, health and science policy and spending. Before joining government, she worked at Unilever on social and environmental responsibility and their corporate brand.