I'm Chairman and Founder of Permian Global, a mission-led company working for the protection and recovery of tropical forests. I was awarded my Fellowship in 1969, when I was a student at the London School of Economics and subsequently I had a career in finance. Having grown up in Africa, I had a deep interest in the environment and biodiversity, and have undertaken many conservation projects around the world, particularly involving restoration ecology.

My Fellowship theme was Adventure and it enabled me, with three others, to travel overland to Iran to study the biodiversity of three national parks.

Currently my work focuses on the relationship between natural ecosystems and the atmosphere, and consequently the climate. Most of the world's remaining forests are damaged, but they have the capacity to recover and, in the process, remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The tropics have the most energy from sunlight and rainfall, so this is where we can have the greatest impact. At present, I'm working on major projects in Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

My Fellowship helped me to determine what I could do to contribute to our shared future.