Team
Kieran Abbott
User Experience / User Interface Designer
Kieran is a product designer passionate about creating meaningful digital experiences. Over the past twelve years, he has designed many products across varying industries with a focus on positive impact. Previously a co-founder of a B Corp product organisation, he also volunteers on a charity board. When not in the office, Kieran is likely to be found in the Welsh mountains, hiking, mountain biking, or walking with his black labrador, Gus.
Email Kieran
Kieran on LinkedIn
Bryony Blades
Data Scientist
Bryony is a PhD student at Oxford, researching the distribution and origins of biodiversity, with a particular focus on spatial modelling and landscape genomics. With experience in both ecology consultancy and academia, she works with Verna to help us use data to better understand the impact of environmental change. In her spare time, you’ll find Bryony watching sports or birds, and spending time with her family.
Dr Matthew Brown
Co-founder & Co-CEO
Matthew leads Verna (with Rafi), with a particular focus on science, engineering, products, and communications. Before Verna, he led the climate change mitigation team at Defra, co-founded a social enterprise which raised over £50m, and researched computational physics at Cambridge. When not at his desk, his favourite pastime is herding his kids through forests, heathlands, and seashores.
Rafi Cohen
Co-founder & Co-CEO
Rafi leads Verna (with Matthew), with a particular focus on commercial strategy, operations, finance, and investor relations. Before Verna he led climate and nature work at Boston Consulting Group, KPMG, and Quadrature Climate Foundation. He also founded a national social enterprise. He is a Chartered Accountant, studied neuroscience at Oxford, and recently fulfilled a life-long ambition to keep chickens.
Dr Ian Dickinson
CTO
Ian is Verna’s Chief Technology Officer, and leads the software product development team. He has a PhD in user-software interactions, and believes strongly in the application of user-centred design to create accessible and engaging products. Previously a senior researcher with HP and co-founder of a data consultancy, he volunteers as a coding mentor and coach. Although a keen technologist, you’ll also find him hand-carving spoons from greenwood!
Dr Mikael Forup MCIEEM
Director of Ecology
Mikael is Verna’s lead ecologist. With a PhD focused on the restoration of ecological interactions, he has retained a passion for conservation and enhancement of biodiversity throughout his career. After years in consultancy across the UK, he joined Verna to support the development of software to facilitate better decision-making for nature. Mikael is based in Scotland, and when he’s not in his office you may find him with his son on the local beach looking for fossils.
Eric Li
Software Engineer
Eric is a software engineer who has worked in various roles throughout the software development cycle, primarily within the financial sector. He is passionate about sustainability. In his spare time, he enjoys creating different flavours of popcorn with his kids.
Ben Smith
Software Engineer
Ben has been developing commercial software for over twenty years, yet he still finds enjoyment in debugging and fixing bugs in code. Away from a computer screen, Ben enjoys getting out on the water all year round to kitesurf and wing foil. He is also a keen masters runner and still achieving personal bests in distances from 5K (16:50) to the marathon (2:52:18).
Polly Spragg
Associate
Polly has joined Verna as an Associate, supporting the co-founders across customer success, operations and communications. Before Verna, she studied geography at the University of Oxford, where she specialised in sustainable cities and transport. She also set up a clothes sharing community for students at her university, to help people shop more sustainably. During her free time, she loves to run and cook!
Advisory board
Tom Butterworth
Head of Ecology, WSP
Gi Fernando
Chair, Climate Subak
Tom Hill
Director of Impact Economics, Savills
Liz Milne
Chair, Association of Local Government Ecologists (ALGE)
Libby Penn
COO, Improbable
David Singleton
CTO, Stripe
Peter Whitfield
Former Director of Operations, Tilhill Forestry