Steering Group
On 12th March 2025, our Steering Group was awarded a development grant of £138,000 from the Water Restoration Fund. The award—effective immediately—will support the creation of three detailed catchment plans, forming the foundation of a future application for a larger, long-term delivery grant.
Project Management: Seadream Education CIC
Seadream Education is a non-profit Community Interest Company founded in 2017 by three female doctorate-level directors. At Seadream Education, we lead citizen science initiatives such as the Southwest Jellyfish Survey, sharing our findings at the annual Southwest Marine Ecosystems Conference and through a range of community outreach events. By combining scientific research with practical, actionable solutions, Seadream Education is at the forefront of efforts to protect and restore vital freshwater and coastal habitats.
Dr Juliette Jackson (centre) leads the BLUEprint project, bringing over ten years of expertise in coastal zone management and applied research projects. Juliette is supported by co-director Dr Jeanette Sanders (left), a dedicated marine ecologist with a passion for championing local aquatic environmental initiatives, and Mike Jackson (right), Seadream’s senior technician, who brings extensive experience in conducting reliable scientific fieldwork.
Dr Juliette Jackson
Juliette has 20 years of experience as a project manager and research facilitator gaining practical expertise in marine, coastal, and environmental science. At the University of Plymouth her focus was on marine conservation, biodiversity enhancement, and habitat restoration. In addition to being the founding director of Seadream Education, Juliette is also the founding trustee of the registered charity Seadream Environment and leads their current habitat mapping research.
She enjoys family-oriented coastal cruising around the Southwest and the Isles of Scilly on yacht Seadream. Juliette advocates sustainable living and with her husband, Mike, they upcycled a brownfield site and built an energy-efficient living space "The Water Tank".
Louise Wainwright
Louise Wainwright has advised environmentally sensitive farmers throughout the world and will bring her professional expertise and empathy with farmers to the BLUEprint Project.
As Chair of Avon River Champions she will contribute her in depth understanding of the issues to help develop a practical strategy that will help all stakeholders contribute to the restoration of our local rivers and estuaries.
Gary Joliffe
Gary Joliffe is the CEO of Till the Coast is Clear CIC and the founder of Force 4 Nature.
The Force4Nature project (F4N) connects local volunteer teams with exciting nature regeneration initiatives happening in their community. The F4N volunteer teams provide a; friendly, motivated and increasingly experienced and well equipped work force to projects large and small that are actively giving nature the helping hand it needs to recover and once again thrive.
The teams venture out every week to a wide variety of projects, all of which are, in one way or another, working towards a more symbiotic relationship with nature.
The team is insured, ‘tooled up’, has transport & it is free at the point of delivery
Paul Vann
Retired from a local government career in economic development and sustainability, Paul is a Kingsbridge Town Councillor (Chair of its Environment, Transport and Resilience Committee), Chair of Kingsbridge Climate (and Nature) Action (KCA), and a founding member of FoSKE (Friends of Salcombe Kingsbridge Estuary).
Paul is also the author of the report 'The Salcombe Kingsbridge Estuary - Aspects of its Wellbeing 2023' and a keen supporter of local/national wildlife life surveys and action and of tree planting locally and around the world.
Richard Powell
Richard stewards a few acres of typical South Hams farmland (which includes a small organic market garden) at the top of a River Gara tributary for habitat creation and conservation, is a WRT River Guardian, a member of the Habitat Group Steering Group and Sustainable Blackawton.
Richard utilises skills learnt as a publisher and designer to aid local voluntary community, conservation and sustainability groups.
Dr Frances Hopkins
Frances is a Senior Scientist in Marine Biogeochemistry and Ocean Observations at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML). PML conducts multidisciplinary research at the cutting edge of marine science to understand the complex marine environment and help solve the challenges it faces.
AgZero+ is a programme run by PML that will bring together a community of researchers and farmers to test innovative farming systems. It will balance the need to produce nutritious food with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, while at the same time enhancing biodiversity and soil health (a holistic approach known as “net zero+’).
Will Benzies
Will is a local land owner with a passion for nature. He is interested in the use of natural features, such as leaky dams and ponds, to slow water flow. He is also keen to leverage ecosystems to manage water sustainably, improving water quality and quantity while promoting biodiversity.