The Board of Trustees ensures the good governance of CIEH, and that it meets its charter, charitable and legal obligations. It also acts as the Board of CIEH Limited, CIEH's trading body.

There are up to nine trustees elected by CIEH members, up to three appointed by the Board, and the President (also appointed by the Board, subject to a confirmatory vote by members).

The Board of Trustees is supported in its work by two committees and an advisory group.

Nominations for the next round of Board elections will open in Spring 2026. The next recruitment of appointed members will be in Summer 2027.

Members

Judith Hedgley

Judith Hedgley MCIEH (Chair)

Judith is an Environmental Health Officer with 34 years' experience working in local government. She is Head of the Public Protection Service at Middlesbrough Council responsible for a wide range of environmental health, housing, licensing and also public health functions. She is Chair of the North East Public Protection Partnership which represents the 12 Local Authorities in the North East.

Nicholas Chapman

Nicholas Chapman REnvH MCIEH

Nick is currently the Head of Environmental Health, Waste and Climate Action at Maldon District Council, and previously worked as an Environmental Protection Officer for 12 years, and an Environmental Protection Team Manager for four years. Nick has been a member since 2012 and is passionate about driving forward the public health agenda.

Sterling Crew

Sterling Crew CEnvH FCIEH

Sterling is a Chartered Fellow of the CIEH and has been a member for 40 years. A food safety advocate, he currently holds a portfolio of positions including President of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Food Authenticity Network of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist and Managing Director of SQS. He is a Scientific and Regulatory Advisor for the sustainability organisations OLIO, The British Lion Mark and Highfield and sits on the CIEH Food Safety Advisory Panel.

Mark Elliott

Mark Elliott CEnvH FCIEH (President)

Mark took up the position of CIEH President on 1 January 2024. 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.

Sarah Johns

Sarah Johns CEnvH FCIEH

Sarah is a Chartered EHP and CIEH Fellow, having been an active member for over 23 years, and currently works as the Chief Environmental Public Health Officer for Welsh Government. Sarah represents Wales on our Environmental Protection Advisory Panel, is a professional examiner and interviewer, and has been a student mentor since 2010. Previously, she has been on our Education and Professional Standards Board, and recently served on our Membership, Learning and the Profession Advisory Group for the maximum term of six years.

James Johnson CEnvH FCIEH

James has worked in environmental health for 24 years and is currently Head of Environmental Health for Lichfield District Council in Staffordshire. He also leads the council's licensing, community safety, emergency planning, and planning enforcement functions. His areas of interest include public health, environmental protection, environmental crime, housing and animal welfare. He is currently active in the Central England Chief Environmental Health Officers Group and occasionally lectures on the CIEH accredited degree course at the University of Wolverhampton.

Safia Khokhar

Safia Khokhar CEnvH MCIEH

Safia is Senior Public Health Strategist Health and Head of Public Health Culture and Development in the Public Health Team in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea councils. She has worked at Westminster City Council for 20 years, 16 of which included leading the food safety team. She is an active member of the CIEH Public Health Advisory Panel. She is passionate about supporting vulnerable communities and bridging the gap between environmental health and public health.

Penelope Dawson Malone

Penelope Dawson Malone CEnvH MCIEH

Penelope is a Chartered EHP and has been a member of CIEH for 37 years. She runs an environmental health consultancy, advising on food safety, health and safety and public health, and previously worked as an EHO in Local Authorities for over 25 years. Penelope has been a speaker at CIEH conferences, written advisory documents, and participated in special interest groups.

Saravana Namasivayam

Saravana Namasivayam

Saravana's career has spanned both private and public sectors in areas such as accounting and finance, management consulting and operations. He is currently helping shape a major finance transformation programme for his organisation. Saravana is also the Chief Operating Officer of a small care home and volunteers as a business mentor for small business owners and start-ups as part of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs.

Joanna Quirk

Joanna Quirk FCA DChA BSc (Hons)

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Joanna gained extensive audit and advisory experience specialising in not-for-profits at Deloitte and Crowe Clark Whitehill. She has worked as Deputy Director of Finance at Shelter, overseeing the charity's finances and its subsidiary. Joanna joined the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) as Finance Director in March 2016 and became Chief Operating Officer in January 2022. In this role, she is responsible for transforming strategic vision into effective execution and overseeing key internal processes.

Keith Ramsay

Keith Ramsay

Keith has been Chair of the Board of the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust since June 2019, Chair of ABE Global, and Chair of the Dewsbury Town Board since June 2021. With over 30 years of experience across the private, public, and voluntary sectors, he has significant experience in leading large teams through major change and organisational development. Keith finds CIEH’s ambitions exciting and looks forward to leveraging his experience to help the Institute achieve its goals amid current and future challenges.

Kevin Shawcross

Kevin Shawcross MCIEH

Kevin has been a CIEH member for over 10 years and is currently employed as a military EHO responsible for environmental health support on a global level. He has over 20 years' experience in environmental health roles which have taken him all over the world, giving him a broad understanding of the different fields of environmental health. Kevin’s work has included the UK’s response to earthquakes in Türkiye and Morocco, evacuations from Sudan, and management of complex EH issues across the globe.

Lindsay Shaw

Lindsay Shaw CEnvH MCIEH

Lindsay is an EHP Pathway Assessor, sits on the EHN Editorial Board and has been a member of the Housing Advisory Panel since 2017. Having been a member for over 25 years, she has worked in several Local Authorities in Northern Ireland as an EHO and Senior EHO. Lindsay currently works at Ulster University teaching the CIEH accredited Environmental Health degree.

Further information