CIEH Wales Conference

Professor Isabel Oliver, Chief Medical Officer for Wales.  Isabel is a public health physician and epidemiologist who is dedicated to securing better health outcomes for all. She started her career working in acute hospital medicine in the West Midlands and the South West of England. After a few years, Isabel decided to pursue a career in public health to have a greater impact in improving and protecting health and reducing inequalities.

Isabel became Regional Director for the Health Protection Agency in South West England in 2008, leading a transformation of local health protection services to ensure services of consistent high quality delivered efficiently and effectively. In 2013, Isabel moved to Public Health England where she established the Field Epidemiology Service for England, learning lessons from the influenza H1N1 pandemic. This service was critical in the response to COVID-19 in England, enabling surveillance and contact tracing in the country. In April 2020 she took up the post of Director of the National Infection Service of Public Health England leading the organisation’s work for the surveillance and control of all infectious diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic Isabel was also a senior clinical and public health adviser to NHS Test and Trace.

As UKHSA CSO, Isabel led the Science Group of the organisation and was accountable for the range of health security functions and services delivered by the group including microbiology and infectious diseases laboratories, protection from radiation, chemicals and environmental hazards including climate change and behavioural sciences.

She has since left the post of Director General of Science and Research and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at the UK Health Security Agency to take the Welsh CMO post.

Dr Henry Dawson CEnvH MCIEH, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Environmental Health at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Henry’s research interests focus on regulatory interventions for housing and health. His recent work includes national analysis of property licensing schemes and authoring of the recent updates to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) Operating Guidance. Henry sits on the Wales Housing Expert Panel, the Rent Smart Wales Advisory Panel, and the Welsh Housing Survey Advisory Panel. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Member of CIEH, and a member of the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH).

Joanna Seymour, Partnership Director, Warm Wales. Joanna is a Registered Public Health Practitioner and Environmental Health Practitioner (MSc Environmental Health). She has 20 years of experience working in Local Authority and third sector in the field of housing and public health. Her current role at Warm Wales combines engagement, development and implementation, looking at identifying and cultivating new partnerships along with maintaining relationships with existing partners and services in the community, leading on the development of new project opportunities and following them through to implementation.

She joined Warm Wales in 2017 and has led many projects such as the Welsh Government Energy Advice pilot and Healthy Homes People Lives and Communities. Joanna was also responsible for setting up the model of delivery, Healthy Homes Healthy People (HHHP) which looks at tackling fuel poverty, reducing avoidable health inequality and improving health and wellbeing by linking the provision of energy advice, fuel debt, case worker support, income maximisation, awareness raising and behaviour change and wider wellbeing via social prescribing.

Joanna recently won an award at the UKPHR (UK Public Health Register) Awards 2024, innovation in Public Health for best Digital Initiative for the work that Warm Wales have been leading on, digitally integrating Health and Housing Support.

Sarah Johns, Chief Environmental Public Health Officer, Welsh Government. Sarah is a Chartered EHP, a Fellow and Trustee of CIEH and an Associate member of the Faculty of Public Health. She works as the Chief Environmental Public Health Officer for Welsh Government. Until March 2025 she worked as a Policy Officer (Environmental Health Wales) with the Welsh Local Government Association covering all areas of environmental health and licensing. Prior to that she worked for Pembrokeshire County Council for 17 years as the Public Protection Manager for Public Health, Housing and Licensing, where she managed private water supplies, land contamination, noise service, air quality, environmental permitting, bathing water quality, public health, private sector housing, pest control and dog control services, and a variety of licensing functions including alcohol, gambling and taxi licences.

Sarah is an active member on a number of national groups and has previously been the chair of the Wales Licensing Expert Panel for 6 years, the Directors of Public Protection for Wales strategic portfolio lead for licensing and the secretary for the Wales Pollution Expert Panel for 11 years.

Sarah qualified in environmental health in 2000 and since graduating has been involved with workforce planning, professional development and student training and remains actively involved with the CIEH as a professional examiner for the EHP Portfolio, Professional Interviewer and student mentor.

Graeme Mitchell, Environmental Health Programme Leader, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). After qualifying as an Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) in 1992, Graeme spent the next 15 years working for various Local Authorities across the North West of England. Whilst he was involved in all aspects of Environmental Health, his career had a very public health focus covering areas such as pest control, nuisance, emergency planning and animal welfare.

In 2007, Graeme joined Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) as the programme leader for their new BSc (Hons) Environmental Health (EH) programme. His research interests have resulted in publications/presentations on a number of topics: food safety; food allergens, risk management; pest control and managing student exceptions. In addition, he has worked on publications with colleagues from across the world on areas such as AI and Environmental Health. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic he has been a regular guest on various BBC and local radio stations to discuss the Public Health impacts of Covid-19 and other Environmental/Public Health issues.

Mark Elliott, President, CIEH. Mark has previously served as both a Trustee and Chair at CIEH; he has been a member since 1978 and is now retired, with his most recent employment having been as Head of Public Protection at Pembrokeshire County Council. Prior to this, he was an Environmental Health Practitioner at a number of Welsh local authorities. He has also served as Chair of Environmental Health Wales and as a member of OFCOM’s Advisory Committee for Wales.

Professor Ian Walker, Professor and Head of School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine Health and Life Science, Swansea University. Professor Ian Walker is an environmental psychologist who specialises in psychology and behaviour in the areas of transport, energy and water. He particularly specialises in working on bringing user needs into multidisciplinary projects with engineers and architects. He is psychology lead for the VSimulators building motion simulators and has worked extensively on in-home displays for energy and water that take end-user understanding into account. He also has a long-standing interest in choices and behaviours around sustainable active travel. He particularly specialises in unconscious and low-awareness influences on behaviour, such as habits, social norms and environmental cues.

Sam Lauder, Assistant Director of Health Protection, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Sam is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, member of the CIEH and Associate member of the Faculty of Public Health. Sam is the Assistant Director of Health Protection for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales, responsible for a regional Health Protection Service delivering against Welsh Government health protection principles. Sam has worked for the National Health Service for 5 years having joined the Public Health Wales Health Protection Team during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sam’s experiences in Health Protection include supporting the response to high consequence infectious disease emergencies overseas. Sam graduated in 2003 and spent 15 years working in Local Government in England and Wales.

Ellis Turner, Senior Lecturer Environmental Health, UWE Bristol. Ellis leads the Environmental Health Msc programme and teaches on Environmental Health and Public Health across UWE public and health and social care programmes. His research interests and papers include evaluating housing and hoarding interventions. He has contributed to a range of Environmental Health publications and is an active advocate of EH across a range of networks to promote the profession and workforce development. He enjoys organising and hosting regional EH networks and CPD events at UWE for students, graduates, and practitioners in partnership with regional EH teams. Ellis is also a member of the CIEH housing advisory panel.

Matt Dicks, National Director, Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru. Matt is the national director of CIH Cymru and leads the team in Wales. Matt took his current role armed with a breadth of knowledge of the Welsh policy landscape following 17 years of working as a senior communicator at the heart of Welsh civic and political life. He joined the National Assembly for Wales (now Welsh parliament) as its head of news after spending 8 years as a Political Correspondent for ITV Wales, before leading the Chartered Institute for Housing in Wales.

Jill Stewart, Associate Professor in Public Health, University of Greenwich. Jill is currently Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Greenwich, Jill has spent a decade working in housing in local government before taking her first academic post in 1999. Her research and teaching work largely focuses on housing and health, including the environmental health housing workforce, featuring across a range of publications, media and conferences. Jill is a Fellow of the CIEH and a Chartered EHP, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health and an Associate of the Faculty of Public Health. She is co-chair of the London Public Health Housing Network and a member of the CIEH Housing Advisory Panel. She is a founding member of the Environmental Health Research Network. 

Zena Lynch, Honorary Associate Professor, University of Birmingham. Previously programme lead, Zena still teaches on MSc Environmental Health courses at the University of Birmingham.  Before this, as Health Policy lead for the West Midlands Regional Assembly and Director of ‘Living Well West Midlands’, she led extensive community-based, health and wellbeing projects.  Her passion for social justice related to the impact of poor and insecure housing on people’s lives was sparked by her early Environmental Health work. She is joint author of the second edition of  ‘Environmental Health and Housing’ published in 2018 and a contributor to ‘Regulating The Privately Rented Sector’ published 2022, amongst other publications. She recently led an international conference on building resilience to extreme events and has been supporting Healthier Homes project work in Oxford and Healthy Housing work for the Centre for Ageing Better. She chairs the CIEH MPAG group and is an expert advisor on the WHO PSF review for Environmental Health.

Professor Liz Green, Consultant in Public Health / Programme Director for HIA, Public Health Wales (WHIASU). Liz is an Honorary Professor at the Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool and holds a PhD in ‘Health Impact Assessment (HIA) as a tool to mobilise Health in all Policies’ from Maastricht University. She has extensive experience in HIA, ‘Health in All Policies’ including incorporating health into spatial planning processes and plans, and provides training, advice and guidance about HIA and other IA processes. She has been recognized as a Woman of Influence 2022 for her work in spatial planning and public health and is co-author of ‘Public Health Spatial Planning in Practice’ with Michael Chang. 

Katie Pettifer, Chief Executive, Food Standards Agency (FSA). Katie is responsible for the FSA’s strategy, communications, legal, regulatory compliance and governance work. Katie also leads the FSA’s Achieving Business Compliance Programme, which is reforming the way that food businesses are regulated by local authorities. Before joining the FSA in July 2021, Katie was the Public Policy Director at Ofcom, where she played a major role in shaping Ofcom’s work to improve mobile and broadband coverage across the UK and to develop new regulation to protect people from harmful content online. She also led on Ofcom’s diversity and inclusion strategy. Before that, Katie spent two decades in the civil service, and held senior roles in the Ministry of Justice, the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office.

Marie Brousseau-Navarro, Deputy Commissioner and Director for Health, Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. Marie has drafted and leads on the Commissioner's health and well-being mission to facilitate a transformation in the way we keep people healthy, with a greater focus on prevention and the long term. This is to help public bodies to work together to tackle the root causes of ill health and addressing health inequalities. She helped set up the office in 2016 together with the first Commissioner.  As Deputy Commissioner since 2021 and former Chief Operating Officer, she makes sure the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner walks the talk and operates as efficiently and sustainably as they can. Marie is ‘adopted Welsh’ originally from France having lived in Wales for over 25 years. She is passionate about sustainability and well-being.

Dr Bruno Cvetkovic, President, International Federation of Environmental Health. Bruno Cvetković, PhD, a Certified Environmental Public Health Practicioner born in Zagreb in 1979. Bruno is curently a Deputy Director of the Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health since 2022. Bruno holds a degree of Master in Environmental Public Health from the Faculty of Health Studies, University of Sarajevo (2008), and has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Environmental and Public Health) from the University of Rijeka (2020). Bruno's career at the Institute began in 2004, and he has held various key positions, including senior advisor and head of several departments. Bruno is  also the President of the International Federation of Environmental Health since 2024. He will be holding the position of President of IFEH for two years.

Jon Buttolph, Director of Professional Standards, CIEH. Jon Buttolph joined CIEH in April 2000 and became part of the Executive Management Team in 2020. His responsibilities include membership recruitment and retention, CIEH's learning offer and professional standards and ethics.

Jon previously worked as Membership Services Officer at the British Humanist Association and started his career at the Directory of Social Change.

Lisa Griffin, Team Manager Commercial & Chair of the All Wales Training & Professional Development Expert Panel, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Lisa is a long-standing member of the CIEH and a Chartered Environmental Health Officer with over 20 years’ experience. She has worked across the full range of Environmental Health disciplines and currently manages the Commercial Team in Blaenau Gwent CBC with key responsibility for the food hygiene, infectious disease and health safety services. She has a passion for supporting the training and development of others and particularly those that are new to the profession and is currently the Chair of both the All Wales Training & Professional Development Expert Panel and Training Officers Forum. She is keen to support CIEH to embrace the local roots of its membership once more and to help shape the hopefully vibrant and enduring future of the Environmental Health profession.

Matt Davenport EH MSc Environmental Health Technician, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Matt is a recent EH MSc Graduate and Registered EHP working in Blaenau Gwent CBC for 2 years. Inside work, Matt has had the benefit of a plethora of challenging cases that have stretched his understanding and professional practice. Outside of work, Matt recently ran the Cardiff Half Marathon for the British Heart Foundation and is currently training for his Second Dan Black Belt Shotokan Karate.

Simon Morse, Specialist Environmental Health Officer & Chair of the South East Wales Health & Safety Task Group. Simon is a Specialist EHO who has worked in the profession for over 25 years. Simon started his career in private industry, implementing Health and Safety management systems into businesses across South East England, during his employment with National Britannia Environmental Consultants, whom he joined as part of a graduate training programme.

Simon moved to Blaenau Gwent CBC in 1997, beginning as a Health and Safety Technical Officer, before attaining a MSc Masters in Environmental Health from the University of the West of England in 2005. Predominantly working in the field of Health and Safety, Simon also specialises in areas of work such as Petroleum Safety, Sports Ground Safety, Sunbed Safety and Special Procedures.

Outside of work Simon enjoys Surfing, Mountain Biking, Travel and Coffee, with his favourite destinations being France, Australia, Las Vegas and above all Costa!

Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz PrFPH, President, Faculty of Public Health.As President, Tracy works closely with the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, the Local Government Association and a wide range of partners with an interest in public health . Tracy is an experienced Director of Public Health with a proven track record of senior leadership across health and social care, in transformation, innovation, system change, strategy development and service delivery across the Civil Service, NHS, local authority and voluntary sector. She is Executive Director for Public Health & Strategic Partnerships at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Wales and also Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health & Applied Sciences at the University of the West of England. She was previously Director of Public Health at Reading Borough Council, West Berkshire & Wokingham Borough Council, Deputy Director of Population Health & Wellbeing at Public Health England and Director of Public Health at Wiltshire Council. Her interests include community connectedness, human impacts of major disasters, wider determinants on health and sustainability, and addressing health inequalities at their root cause.

Sion Lingard, Consultant in Health Protection & Training Programme Director, Public Health HEIW. Sion is a Consultant in Health Protection (Public Health) with Swansea Bay University Health Board. Prior to this he was a Consultant in Health Protection with Public Health Wales for nearly 10 years. With Swansea Bay he is responsible for the health protection partnership, bringing together health board and some local authority services to deliver against local and Welsh Government health protection priorities. Sion is also Training Programme Director for Public Health Specialty Training in Wales. Sion studied Environmental Health in Cardiff and trained in Wrexham, taking up his first EHO post in Cheshire in 1994 and finishing in local government at the Vale of Glamorgan in 2007.

Charlotte Rose, Team Leader in Environmental Health, City of Wolverhampton Council. Charlotte specialises in commercial regulation and infection prevention and control, where she has held the lead role for registered activities and non-surgical aesthetic treatments for a number of years. Her work includes the Dr Evil, Body Modification case working with her colleagues and West Midlands Police, and developing a toolkit with UKHSA for trainers and practitioners offering semi-permanent make up. Recently, she has been working with the British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) on buttock augmentation injections, with Wolverhampton being the first local authority in England to take against a high street provider offering this type of procedure. Charlotte submitted evidence to the APPG inquiry into better regulation in the industry, and she supports the implementation of a licensing regime to make the high street a safer place.

Claire Parsons, Principal Environment Officer, Westminster City Council. Claire is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner with over 20 years’ experience, holding a BSc (Hons) Environmental Health and MSc Sustainability and Environmental Management. She has worked across all areas of environmental health in a variety of local authorities and sectors. In her current role at Westminster City Council, she has key responsibilities for delivering air quality improvements and reducing communities’ exposure to poor air quality. Her professional interests include utilising innovation, addressing health inequalities and delivering impact on the ground. Outside of work she uses her skills at her local church where she leads activities and engagement on environmental issues.

Susan Green, Team Leader, Environmental Health - Housing and Environmental Protection, Swindon Borough Council. Went to University at Kings College London; Traditional education route (School, college Uni).

Initially considered a degree in Environmental Science but realised there was little career opportunities thereafter. I saw that the EHO degree had highest percentage of employment post qualification!

Always wanted a practical job where I could make a difference of some kind and work with people.

Landed my first job at Arun District Council in 2002; as a Technical Officer with training role opportunity within the Housing team. Did my log book whilst working as a housing officer. Found my passion for Housing. Saw the changes through from the old fitness standard to HHSRS and was one of the first to be deemed competent to use the scheme.

Moved back to Swindon (where I grew up) and got my second role as an EHO in the Swindon BC Environmental Health Team and have never managed to leave!

Progressed from Senior EHO, Principal EHO and then Team Leader of the Housing and Environmental Protection team.

Have prosecuted many rogue landlords for the full breadth of offences. Bought in the new Civil Penalty Policy and procedures at Swindon, imposition of many Civil Penalty’s, defended appeals of Civil Penalty’s and prosecuted numerous landlords for Housing Act offences. Most recently I defended a judicial review at Appeal Court relating to the definition of ‘Manager’ under the Housing Act and now taking a well-known national provider of Asylum seeker accommodation to Magistrate’s Court for 30+ Housing Act Offences.

I Care deeply about the Environmental Health profession and its future.

My Housing and Environmental Protection Team has struggled with finding experienced EHOs (or any EHO’s) over the years, with Housing experience or any relevant EH experience. So we’ve developed the Apprenticeship Role Profile at Swindon and worked with UWE and HR at Swindon to introduce the programme. We have offered the apprenticeship to existing technical officers to upskill to EHO and recruited brand new apprentices.

Carolyn Clinton, Team Leader Environmental Health - Food, Health & Safety, Swindon Borough Council. Previously after finishing my BSC Hons in Hotel & Catering Management at Oxford Brookes, I worked as a Head Chef for large Contract Caterers including Aramark and Sodexo. I progressed through Chef Manager Positions and eventually ended up as Catering Manager at Honda, Car Plant 1. A busy site where 3 times a day we served 800 Honda associates in 10 mins – breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus weekend shifts and over 100 coffee vending machines, 50 can vending machines and hospitality. From there I worked for Baxter Storey at Npower as Group Catering Manager. From there I decided to have a change in career and went back to University to do my Masters in EH at UWE.

I have worked at Swindon since 2009 whilst I completed my ELP and was awarded my EHORB in Aug 2010. I have always work in Food, Health & Safety in a Team that also covers Infectious Diseases, PWS and now Safety at Sports Ground and Tattooists. I progressed to a Senior, then Principal and after a restructure became Team Leader and manage a team of 6 EHO’s 3 of which are Seniors and an Apprentice.

Dr Menna Price, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Swansea University. Based in the School of Psychology, Menna has specific research interests in health behaviour, including public awareness of Air Pollution, with the aim of developing behavioural interventions to reduce both exposure and emissions. This research includes specific behaviours (e.g. engine idling, domestic burning) and general literacy surrounding the causes, consequences, sub-types and moderators of Air Pollution.

Bethan Jones, Operational Manager, Rent Smart Wales. Bethan has a BSC (Hons) in Environmental Health, Diploma in Housing and Business Administration. She has managed environmental health and housing services since 1991 in Bristol and Cardiff. Her experience includes private and public sector housing work including HMO enforcement, empty homes and compulsory purchase and Renewal Areas, group repair and renovation grant activities.

A key aspect of her work throughout her career has involved nurturing partnerships with local landlords, voluntary organisations and universities.

Bethan currently leads Rent Smart Wales (the Welsh Government all Wales landlord registration and licensing scheme) following the designation of Cardiff Council as the Single Licensing Authority in 2015. She is also Chair of the Housing Expert Panel in Wales, part of the Welsh partnership led by Directors of Public Protection to share best practice, policy development and collaborative working where that makes sense.

Laura Phillips, Barrister, Gough Square Chambers. Laura has specialised in regulatory law for over a decade. She acts for and advises regulators, companies and individuals in all areas of regulatory law including consumer, trading standards, food, health & safety, fire safety, product safety. She often prosecutes for local authorities, including cases involving fatalities and serious injuries. She has advised national regulators on the scope and limits of their enforcement powers and on the interpretation of legislation. She has represented multi-national organisations and VLOs including well known UK companies. She has been ranked in the directories for health and safety and consumer law for many years.

Professor Jim McManus, National Director Health and Wellbeing, Public Health Wales. Jim is an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford. Jim is National Director of Health and Wellbeing for Public Health Wales and also Deputy Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the UK Prevention Research Partnership.

Jim is a Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Scientist and Fellow of the British Psychological Society in addition to being a registered Public Health specialist and Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health. Before joining Public Health Wales Jim was Executive Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire and President of the UK Association of Directors of Public Health and before that was Joint Director of Public Health for Birmingham. He has worked on primary care, cardiac and stroke care, public mental health, drugs and alcohol, HIV and sexual health. Jim is a Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire and at the University of Bangor. He is an Honorary Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Siân James, Environmental Health Manager, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. Siân James is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner with over 30 years’ experience across seven Welsh local authorities. She led innovative public health initiatives in Cardiff and was instrumental in establishing Shared Regulatory Services, delivering regulatory functions across two local authorities. Currently working at Merthyr Tydfil CBC, she oversees the full range of Environmental Health operations. Siân holds an MSc in Public Leadership from Cardiff University and chairs Environmental Health Wales. She has contributed to national expert panels and continues to advocate for excellence in public service. Outside her professional role, she has recently taken up triathlon, having completed her first half-distance event in 2025.

David Travers KC, Gough Square Chambers. David Travers KC acts for a wide range of clients ranging from major commercial and industrial concerns to small businesses, directors and other individuals. He also acts for UK Regulatory Bodies and Local Authorities and has experience as a non-executive director. A large part of his practice is in Regulatory Law and the criminal, contractual and tortious disputes arising in relation to it; these include: Consumer Protection (including Product Liability & Recall, Food Safety, and Trading Standards); Health & Safety (including Construction and Fire Safety); Environmental Law; Public Law (including Planning and Local Government) and Professional & Disciplinary law. He has extensive experience as an advocate and has appeared for clients in courts at every level and in public inquiries, inquests, arbitrations, mediations and professional conduct tribunals.

His court appearances include numerous appeals related to the ‘due diligence’ defence, work-related fatal accidents, serious food poisoning outbreaks, disputes relating to environmental permits, nuclear safeguards, and transfrontier shipment of waste.

David has also been named more than once as “Consumer Barrister of the Year” and “Food Barrister of the Year” [Corporate America Today and Global 100]

Stephen Vickers, Joint Chief Executive, Torfaen County Borough Council and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Stephen leads the first federated council partnership in Wales - a pioneering model of collaborative local government. Under his leadership, both councils have also become the first in Wales to be designated as Marmot Councils, committed to reducing health inequalities through evidence-based, equity-focused policy and practice.
Stephen came into social care and local government later in his career, having originally trained as an engineer. His professional journey spans a diverse range of sectors, including hospitality, retail, and consultancy, before transitioning into public service.

He has held several influential roles, including Non-Executive Director for Herefordshire General Practice and Respiratory Innovation Wales, as well as Visiting Lecturer at De Montfort University, where he specialised in law, policy, and evidence-based practice.

Stephen currently serves as the SOLACE Lead for Health and Social Care in Wales and is the Chair of the National Connecting Care – Social Care Programme Board.