Sam is a geographer and nature professional, with a career spanning biodiversity research, landscape-scale conservation and international development. He is currently Executive Director of West Dorset Wilding, a landowner and farmer-led charity in Dorset which was set up to lead nature recovery at scale. He has recently led the development, and submission to Defra, of the Brit Valley Landscape Recovery project, based in West Dorset, a 25-year initiative to improve nature over more than 4,300 hectares of land and with more than 50 farmers and landowners. The outcome of the bid will be known later this year, and if funded, will be groundbreaking in its approach.

Sam previously led the team managing the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and played a pivotal role in the creation of a new natural World Heritage; The Flow Country. He founded a number of charities, including the national body World Heritage UK. Sam also trained as a professional photographer and undertakes work for a range of nature and heritage organisations alongside his own work focusing mainly on rewilding. He maintains a podcast and website about this subject where he interviews key figures in the field, called “What If You Just Leave it?”