Acting Climate NI Manager & Climate Resilience Researcher

Dr Jade Berman

Jade has over ten years’ experience working in Northern Ireland previously working at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Ulster Wildlife, as an honorary lecturer in Marine Policy at Queen’s University and sitting as a Committee Member for CNCC and JNCC advising Government Departments. Previously Jade has worked all over the world from New Zealand and Antarctica to Panama and Hawaii above and below the sea as a marine biologist. She joined Climate NI in March 2020 working on the Talx project as a researcher and continues in this role as well as from February 2021, becoming Acting Climate NI Manager.

Acting Resilience Co-ordinator, Climate NI

Stephen Jones

Stephen has more than 7 years’ experience co–ordinating climate adaptation in Northern Ireland. He has delivered bespoke climate resources and communication tools with a range of public, private and academic partners across a diverse range of sectors, from Health to Agriculture.

Recently he guided Derry City and Strabane District Council through development of the first climate change adaptation plan in the region. This led to the creation of the ‘Local Government Climate Action Network’ (LGCAN) which aims to develop adaptation plans in every local authority in NI.

Acting Climate NI Programme Officer

Amy Bell

Amy is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, where she gained a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development. Amy went on to work for a business consultancy, co–ordinating business growth programmes for SMEs with local councils. Amy joined Climate NI in August 2019 in the role of Climate NI Project Assistant. Amy is responsible for communicating climate change with a range of sectors, co–ordinating the steering group and contributing to policy development.

Climate NI Mitigation Officer

Perla Mansour

Perla is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, where she gained an MSc in City Planning and Design in 2020; she is also an architect and has worked in the field for 6 years. Perla has been an activist on sustainable development and climate change since 2015, developing and delivering projects to support and mobilize community groups on the topics. She joined Climate NI in February 2021 in the role of Climate NI Mitigation Officer, where she is responsible for the design and delivery of climate literacy courses within the climate mitigation project.

UK Climate Resilience Program Embedded Researcher

Dr Alan Kennedy–Asser

Dr Alan Kennedy–Asser is a research associate in climate science based at the University of Bristol, focussing on the impacts of summer heat extremes in the UK. Alan is working with Climate NI until October 2022 as an embedded researcher on the ‘Once Upon a Time in a Heatwave’ project, exploring the power of storytelling to communicate understanding of climate risks between researchers and rural and agricultural communities.

Policy & IT Officer

Connor McLean

Connor graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2012 with a BSc in Environmental Planning and joined NIEL team in June 2012 as a volunteer, assisting on a range of projects. In January 2013, Connor began working part–time as a Website Assistant, developing NIEL’s social media and online presence. In August 2013, he secured the position of Communications Assistant. Connor also manages events, provides IT support and works on a number of projects including Climate Northern Ireland, the HLF Catalyst Umbrella Programme and the Northern Ireland Open Government Network.