ProfessorGary Kass

Gary Kass is Visiting Professor in Sustainability Science, Policy and Practice based within the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College. He is also Honorary Professor in Geogrpahy at the University of Nottingham 

Gary is an environmental and sustainability scientist and knowledge broker, with 40 years’ practice, working at the interface of science and policy and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a fellow of teh Institution of Environmental Sciences. He started his career as a government air quality scientist before moving to private practice as a consultant, working on a wide range of projects for clients in the UK and overseas. Gary joined the public sector in 1995 as Head of the Environment and Energy programme at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and became Head of Public Engagement with Science and Technology within the UK Government. Gary then joined Natural England in 2007 and served as Deputy Chief Scientist between 2014 and 2022 and Defra deputy Chief Scientific Adviser in 2016; and as Deputy Director for Foresight and Innovation in Natural England until leaving the public sector in 2023. 

Gary has also worked widely in academia, including serving on the Natural Environment Research Council’s Innovation Advisory Board, the Research Excellence Framework Geography and Environmental Studies sub-panel in 2014 and 2021, and he held a Fellowship at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy. Gary is now a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Sustainability Science, a member of the Office for Environmental Protection College of Experts, a Vice-President of the Institution of Environmental Sciences, Chair of the Institution’s Policy Committee, and an associate consultant at Fractal Consulting, Socially Adept Ltd and Hyphae (formerly Jigsaw Foresight).