Meet the team

Aimee Felus
TAP Programme Delivery Manager
Aimee manages a variety of the projects undertaken by TAP. Aimee’s background is in water quality protection and community engagement. In recent years she has worked on creating many rainscapes. Aimee really enjoys inspiring people about the aquifer, whether in the classroom, at community events or in giving presentations to groups.

Susie Howells
TAP Partnership Development Manager
Susie manages a variety of the projects undertaken by TAP. Susie has worked across most aspects of environmental management, sustainability and corporate social responsibility at senior level in business, as a charity trustee and as a business owner. In recent years she has worked on progressing the partnership, including funding, project programming and impact. Susie’s aim is to increase knowledge, understanding and skills to enable us to manage our natural resources in better ways.

Jeremy Burgess
South Downs National Park Authority Biodiversity and Water Lead
Jeremy leads on water issues for the South Downs National Park Authority and has been involved in developing a wide range of projects such as restoring dew ponds and floodplain meadows. Jeremy also works to support the work of the catchment partnerships across the National Park.

Gareth Williams
Environment Agency Catchment Coordinator
Gareth is a catchment coordinator working with both the Adur and Ouse and Arun and Western Streams Catchment Partnerships. Gareth’s background is in ecology and partnership working. Gareth has supported and helped steer the TAP project since its inception, securing Environment Agency funding and sharing the many benefits that this successful and innovative project has delivered over the years. Gareth is most proud of the landscape scale improvements to the water environment that this exemplar project delivers, TAP is a brilliant example of a source to sea initiative in Sussex.

Robin Kelly
Southern Water Catchment Officer and TAP rural liaison
Robin works directly with the locals farmers to raise awareness of water quality issues and develop more nitrogen efficient ways of farming. Robin can TAP into nitrate reduction scheme funding from Southern Water to incentivise water friendly farming practices like over-winter cover crops.

Sarah Dobson
The Living Coast Biosphere Programme Manager
Sarah supports TAP through the Biosphere programme, speaking about TAP at public engagement events and raising awareness of TAP to relevant organisations and potential new partners. The Biosphere has supported TAP since the very beginning and TAP is a great example of a project which showcases the global Biosphere objectives of conservation, sustainable development and shared knowledge and awareness.

Leasa Williams
Southern Water Catchment Management Specialist
Leasa provides strategic support to Southern Water’s catchment scheme in the Brighton Chalk Block which aligns with The Aquifer Partnership project. This involves using the science to understand what’s going on in our catchments and how this might risk the quality of our sources. This information can guide the prioritisation of our efforts to reduce groundwater pollution to solve the problem as quickly as possible, being systematic and pragmatic, and spending customer’s money appropriately.

Fran Sinclair-Smith
Environment Agency Technical Officer
Fran is a Technical Officer in the Environment Agency’s Groundwater Team. She provides technical support on TAP projects and helps bid for Environment Agency funding and resources that contribute to TAP’s work. Fran is particularly interested in monitoring and reporting on groundwater quality and understanding how different pollution sources and pollution prevention measures impact groundwater quality.

Mita Patel
Sustainability Programme Officer at Brighton & Hove City Council
Mita has spent over 20 years working in sustainability both in local government in the UK and at an international research projects in the Netherlands. Since 2006 Mita has been working at Brighton & Hove City Council leading on key areas of work for mainstreaming sustainability across council strategies, policies and service areas, as well as with partners and communities across the city. Key areas of her work has included building corporate capacity in sustainability; playing a major part in the introduction and development of the UNESCO Biosphere Programme – The Living Coast; leading on the development of a circular economy framework for the city, and in supporting a more strategic approach to the council’s climate emergency declaration and in its commitment for making the city resilient to the impacts of climate change.