Kate Longhurst BA MSc FLS

Head of Science

Kate joined the CCC team as Project Scientist in the Philippines in 2011 and hasn’t looked back since!  Following her stint in the Philippines she headed out to Cambodia where she held the joint roles of Expedition Leader and Project Scientist.  She took on the role of Head of Science shortly after her return to the UK.  Kate completed her undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and subsequently completed an MSc in Conservation at University College London, for which she received a Distinction. She is a PADI Divemaster with a passion for the environment and has volunteered on a variety of conservation projects both overseas and in the UK.  She is responsible for managing the scientific survey work carried out by teams of volunteer researchers overseas and using this information to develop sustainable management recommendations for our in-country partners, local governments and academic institutions.

Mathew Davies FRGS
Business Development Manager & In-House Counsel
Matt joined Coral Cay after a successful career as a Solicitor Advocate specialising in defending Travel and Leisure clients. During this time he was the President of the European Young Bar Association and Director of the Liverpool Law Society. As a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he has lectured to ABTA and RGS Members, Tour Operators, University Groups and mountaineering companies on issues from Crisis response, legal training, incident investigation, Disaster litigation and risk assessment. Matt was a member of the committee that created British Standard 8848 and advises the Expedition Providers Association on legal matters. He is currently studying for a master’s degree in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management.

Tessa Dawson

Volunteer Coordinator

Tess first joined Coral Cay Conservation as an operations intern in 2011. After completing her BSc Degree in Animal Behaviour and Welfare she worked as a research assistant, spending a significant amount of time at sea studying the behaviour of dolphins, and many hours in the bush studying Bower birds in Australia. After completing her internship with CCC she worked as a Communications Officer before joining the office team as the Volunteer Coordinator. Tess holds the Off-Site Safety Management qualification and is a keen scuba diver.

Ian Forbes

Training Director

Ian served for over 25 years with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers before joining the Lifesigns Group. He is an experienced and highly qualified Mountain Leader, having led over 50 overseas expeditions to date and is also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Ian is an overseas safety advisor to the BBC and has coordinated logistics and security on programmes such as SAS Are You Tough Enough and Human Planet. He is an Off-Site Safety Management instructor, RLSS National Water Safety Management Instructor, 4x4 instructor, qualified Wilderness Medical Technician and holds numerous safety and auditing qualifications.

Sherry Stone

Accounts Manager

Sherry has worked in the accounting field all of her professional working life and has gained vast experience in all aspects of the financial world. Updating her computing knowledge by doing an HND in Business Information Technology, which she passed with Distinctions. Sherry is responsible for the accounts team at the Lifesigns Group.

Ian Forsyth

UK Trainer

Ian served with the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Combat Medical Technician and Remote Area Medic before managing the Health & Safety for NGO’s operating in hostile environments overseas. He has a BA (Hons) in Adventure Education and is currently working towards his International Mountain Leader Award. He is a qualified First Aid and Sea Survival instructor and an RYA Advanced Power Boat Instructor and has previously worked for both a major ambulance service and the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

Dr Jackie Gibb

Medical Advisor

Having qualified as a Doctor and completed a variety of hospital jobs, including a four year stint in Accident and Emergency, Jackie decided that she preferred working in the outdoors. She has travelled and worked in over 50 different countries worldwide and regularly leads groups on overseas expeditions. Jackie is a trainer in Pre-Hospital Life Support and is qualified in Advanced Life Support.

Kerrieanne Forbes

Overseas Manager
Kerrieanne has travelled extensively, and spent her gap year travelling South East Asia, India and Nepal. More recently she has lived with the Massai in Tanzania and became an Open Water Diver in Vietnam. As a Mountain Leader, Kerrieanne has led expeditions to Kenya, Peru and India. Kerrieanne is a First Aid at Work Instructor and has attended the off-site safety management course. She is a qualified EMT.

Andy Salmon

Medical Development Officer 

Andy has been involved in pre-hospital care for over twenty years at various levels. After completed a professional diploma in pre-hospital care with Staffordshire University, he spent ten years with Dorset Fire and Rescue Service as their Trauma Care Trainer before becoming the Resuscitation Services Manager for the Dorset Primary Care Trust. Andy is an ALS instructor, and PHTLS, BTLS, PILS provider and extrication technician. Andy is also a bank commercial trainer and staff responder for SWAST, using the latter to maintain skills and knowledge.

Alex Ferguson

Science Intern

Alex has recently graduated from Exeter University with a masters with distinction in conservation and biodiversity. He has been involved with a number of marine conservation organisations around the world including with Coral Cay in Fiji. Closer to home as part of his masters research project he conducted a study in conjunction with the National Lobster Hatchery  looking at behavioural changes in juvenile European lobsters. It is these experiences of conservation in practice that has inspired him to pursue a career in this field and to join CCC.

Melissa McVee

Spatial Analyst

Mel joined the science team in August 2010 on a volunteer basis, working remotely from Western Australia.  She has a Graduate Diploma in Geographic Information Science (GIS) and turns the large amount of important research and data collected on site into visual outputs such as maps and illustrations.  Mel has always loved animals ever since her Year 3 teacher let her keep a pet spider on her desk.  Although this work has been her first real taste of marine conservation, she quickly become addicted and continues to make valuable contributions to CCC's outputs.