Second Nature
Second Nature is a podcast that explores the intersection of nature, business, finance, adventure, leadership, and politics. Host Rich Stockdale interviews people driving change in conservation and purpose-driven organizations. The show features stories of extreme journeys, conservation breakthroughs, and insights from leaders. It aims to challenge assumptions and inspire action for the planet's future.
Episodes
E177 Asger Strange-Olesen: The Additionality Problem
Asger Strange Olesen has spent 15 years building context most people in this space only claim to have. Carbon developer, EU Climate Directorate, FSC Global Chief Climate Officer, now heading climate and biodiversity at IWC — a $6bn forestry asset manager backed by BNP Paribas. He has been inside the policy rooms, the certification bodies, the investor meetings, and the forest itself.This conversat
E176 Richard Kelly & Robert Guest: Britain Is Running Out of Trees
Richard Kelly and Robert Guest were employees 63 and 64 at Foresight. They built a £150 million portfolio in 12 months, took it public on the London Stock Exchange during COP26, watched interest rates destroy their share price through no fault of their own, delisted — and then rebuilt. Within months of going private, their three biggest shareholders rolled straight back in. That's not a recov
E175 Insurance Round Table: The Market Nobody Talks About
Everyone talks about capital flows into nature. Nobody talks about what has to be true before that capital will move. Insurance isn't a nice-to-have in natural capital markets — it's the load-bearing wall. Without it, the deals don't close, the banks don't lend, the corporates don't buy. With it, you get carbon credits on a balance sheet as assets instead of liabilities. Y
E174 Ed Thorne & Greg Robson: Relationships Can't Be Automated
Greg Robson and Ed Thorne founded Sand River three years ago with a simple but radical premise: the companies solving the ecological crisis are the best businesses on earth — they just haven't been funded that way. Both came from operational backgrounds. Neither had the next great idea to save nature. What they had was the judgment to find the people who did.This conversation goes deep into h
E173 Tim Christophersen: The $7 Trillion Secret Destroying The Planet
Tim Christophersen had a UN contract running to 2038. Diplomatic passport. Lifetime security. A ringside seat to every major environmental agreement on the planet. He left. That decision tells you something important about where this man thinks the real leverage is — and where it isn't.He's spent 30 years building the architecture the world runs on: the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
E172 David Gerard: Wonder Is a Business Strategy
David Gerard has spent 30 years learning how to make people forget to be cool. From FAO Schwartz at six years old to the highest-rated show in Las Vegas, from Google's marketing floors to coaching Fortune 500 CEOs on stage presence, David has built a career at the intersection of wonder, attention, and human connection — and in an AI world that's automating everything else, that intersec
E171 Troy Carter: AI Will Save the Forests
Carbon markets are broken. Not because the projects don't work — but because nobody has decided they should. Troy Carter, founder of Earthshot Labs, has spent five years building the end-to-end infrastructure to get serious money into reforestation and conservation projects worldwide. He's watched the market go hot, go cold, and watched good operators go bankrupt for reasons that have no
E170 Dimitri Theocharis: The Hyperscalers Are Coming
Dimitri Theocharis grew up watching an economy collapse. So he left. New York, San Francisco, Harvard Business School. Then something unexpected: a climate startup in the UK that needed someone who understood both money and markets.Dimitri is now CEO of Ecologi, a platform at the intersection of carbon accounting, nature-based funding, and the voluntary carbon market — working with over 16,000 bus
E169 Tommy Ricketts: The Reckoning Is Coming
Tommy Ricketts is the co-founder and CEO of BeZero Carbon — the company that built the world's first carbon ratings agency, walked into COP26, and got told they were the single biggest risk to the carbon market. That was 2021. By 2023, the projects their critics were defending were in freefall.Tommy spent years at Bank of America training under a number-one ranked analyst, pitching ideas to h
E168 BNG Round Table: This is Still the First Chapter
Britain's biodiversity market was two years old when someone tried to kill it. Not deliberately — just through the spectacular collision of political timing, an overloaded planning system, and a regulatory bottleneck that hit at the worst possible moment. In this episode, I sit down with three of the people who were there — Emma Toovey of Environment Bank, Fiona Milden of Oxygen Conservation,
E167 Paul Beavis: Why I Left the Greatest Wines in the World
Paul Beavis ran a €90 million global champagne business. He was the face of one of the world's most prestigious drinks brands. And he walked away from all of it.What he built next took three years of searching every great wine region on earth, 178 attempts to name a single product, and a back vintage tasting at Claridge's that nobody in the industry thought was possible.Wild Idol is the
E166 Martin Berg: Nature Is Becoming a $1BN Business
A $1 billion bet on nature sounds like impact.It’s actually something far more uncomfortable.Martin Berg isn’t guessing where this goes—he’s building it. From inside global finance to running a $1BN natural capital platform, this is what happens when markets collide with ecosystems. Land becomes strategy. Carbon becomes currency. Biodiversity becomes… investable.But beneath the ambition sits tensi
E165 Dimple Patel: Stop Waiting For Permission
Dimple Patel didn't arrive at the CEO chair via the usual route. She grew up on a council estate in the north of England, the daughter of immigrants who had their house burnt down and opened the shop the next morning anyway. She got to Cambridge on scholarships, traded through the 2008 financial crisis at Goldman Sachs, scaled a coffee chain to 37 stores and sold it to private equity, pivoted
E164 Ian Simm: Nature Is The Next Big Trade
Can investing help solve environmental challenges — while still delivering strong returns?In this episode of the Oxygen Conservation Podcast, Rich Stockdale speaks with Ian Simm, Founder and CEO of Impax Asset Management.For more than two decades, Ian has been investing in companies that enable the transition to a more sustainable economy — from renewable energy and water infrastructure to smart m
E163 Vian Sharif: Finance, AI and the Future of Nature
What happens when financial markets finally realise nature isn’t external to the economy — but fundamental to it?In this episode of the Oxygen Conservation Podcast, Rich Stockdale speaks with Vian Sharif, Founder of NatureAlpha — a company using AI and environmental data to help financial institutions understand how their investments impact the natural world.Today, NatureAlpha’s insights inform in
E162 Will Foulkes: Retail Is Sitting On Untouched Billions
What if the fastest way to fund nature isn’t through donations… but through the global payments system?Will Foulkes left elite structured finance at a Magic Circle law firm to build something radical: a “green margin” embedded into everyday transactions that automatically funds nature restoration.From adding 1p to supermarket products, to integrating directly into Europe’s largest payment processo
E161 Lara Salam & Doris Koeck: We Built a Nature Algorithm
Everyone thinks Oxygen Conservation is a land company.It’s not. It’s a data platform from its absolute DNA.In this rare behind-the-scenes conversation, Rich sits down with the team building the engine that powers every acquisition, every restoration plan, and every carbon model. From screening every square metre of the UK using 50+ datasets, to deploying drones capturing 3cm resolution imagery, to
E160 Rob Gardner: Floods Will Break Britain
Rob Gardner isn’t trying to make nature sound good. He’s trying to make it investable.As CEO of Rebalance Earth, he’s building the UK’s first natural capital asset manager — structuring real revenue models around flood mitigation, water resilience, peatland restoration, and even oyster reefs. With a £25m cornerstone portfolio backed by West Yorkshire Pension Fund, this is institutional capital mov
E159 Giles Bristow: The Water Crisis Was Engineered
What does real leadership look like when the country’s rivers are polluted, the public is angry, and the system feels stuck?Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, has lived both sides of the fight — from environmental lawyer inside the corporate machine to leading one of the UK’s most recognisable grassroots movements.This is not a comfortable conversation.Rich and Giles go head-to-head on
E158 Mark Clayton: Is Your Bank Funding Extinction?
Most banks talk about values. Very few are willing to let those values shape decisions.Mark Clayton, CEO of Triodos Bank UK, leads a bank that treats impact as a discipline, not a slogan. Having worked at the heart of big finance, he understands how neutrality, risk, and growth are used to avoid responsibility — and what it takes to do things differently.This conversation goes inside the real trad
E157 Elena Doms: Is Europe Running Out of Time?
Why expand into Europe now — and why Elena Doms?This conversation marks a defining moment for Oxygen Conservation as it steps into Europe, with Elena Doms joining as Director of Europe. It’s not an expansion driven by ambition alone, but by timing — capital is mobilising, regulation is hardening, and credibility is suddenly the limiting factor.Rich Stockdale and Elena unpack what it really takes t
E156 Rowan Martin: This Isn’t for Everyone
What does elite talent really look like in conservation — and why do most hiring systems miss it completely?Rowan Martin is a walking contradiction to the sector’s stereotypes. A PhD scientist in butterfly vision. A mountain biker with an instinctive grasp of risk. An estate manager running real land, real projects, and real decisions in West Wales. A mother, creator, and operator who refuses to s
E155 Ben Gascoigne: Can Anyone Lead Britain Now?
British politics has a problem — and it isn’t policy. It’s belief.Ben Gascoigne has lived at the heart of the machine. From Downing Street to the House of Lords, he’s seen how power is won, how it’s lost, and why so many leaders fail to hold the country’s attention once they get there.This conversation cuts straight through the spin. Why politics feels empty. Why no one’s listening. Why authentici
E154 Tom Bradshaw: Who Is Killing British Farming?
Britain’s food system looks calm on the surface. Underneath, it’s under strain.Tom Bradshaw, President of the NFU, sits down with Rich Stockdale for a raw, wide-ranging conversation about what it really takes to feed 70 million people — and why UK farming is being pushed to the edge. From balancing family life with national leadership, to fighting for farmers inside Westminster, Tom pulls back the
E153 Alok Sama: Escaping the Trap
Alok Sama has lived where most people only speculate. Inside Morgan Stanley. Inside SoftBank. Inside the long, lonely thinking of Masayoshi Son.Rich and Alok strip away the mythology of success — the status, the deals, the adrenaline — and examine what’s left when the noise dies down. From the absurd rituals of high finance to the quiet psychological cost of ambition, this is an unvarnished look a
E152 Ed Mansel Lewis: The Price of Taste
English wine didn’t evolve — it accelerated. And now it’s facing the consequences.Ed Mansel-Lewis, Head of Viticulture at Knight Frank, joins Rich Stockdale for a wide-ranging conversation about what really determines success in modern wine — and why the industry is quietly shifting from rapid expansion to ruthless consolidation.From Champagne houses planting vines in Kent, to £30 non-alcoholic wi
E151 Nye Gordon: The New Power Line
Nye Gordon, Director at Guidehouse, joins Rich Stockdale PhD for a conversation that moves fast — from politics to engineering, from nature markets to climate resilience, from imposter syndrome to the dream of working from a lochside in Perthshire.Nye argues that nature isn’t a backdrop to energy infrastructure — it is infrastructure. A tool for resilience. A shield for assets that are about to fa
E150 Tom Sobey: Redefining Coffee Culture
Tom Sobey built Origin Coffee long before specialty coffee became a trend — and long before the industry understood what “quality” actually meant. ☕️This episode goes deep into the real story behind one of Europe’s most respected coffee brands: the early graft, the relentless focus on culture, the obsession with craft, and the uncomfortable decisions needed to scale without selling your soul.We ta
E149 Tasmin Chilcott: The Future of Outdoor Gear
Dryrobe didn’t just invent a product — they created a culture.In this episode, Rich sits down with Tasmin Chilcott, the unstoppable force behind Dryrobe’s sustainability mission, to unpack how a cold-car-park problem became one of the most influential outdoor brands in the world. From a mum’s homemade prototype to GB Olympic kit, Dryrobe has become the Hoover, Dyson and Google of its category — an
E148 David Hill: The Architect of BNG
What happens when an ecologist stops waiting for government — and builds the system himself?Professor David Hill CBE, founder of Environment Bank and the architect of biodiversity net gain (BNG), joins Rich Stockdale PhD for a conversation that rewrites the rules of conservation.From founding the UK’s first environmental consultancy to forcing Westminster to legislate for nature, David’s journey i
E147 Neil Beamsley: The Biodiversity Builder
Neil Beamsley doesn’t just build homes — he builds habitats.As Group Head of Biodiversity at Bellway Homes, Neil is leading one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders into uncharted territory: a world where development enhances nature, not erases it.From his early days in archaeology and ecology to shaping national policy on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Neil’s story is one of balance — between progress
E146 Don Macleod & Crawford Mackay: The Scotland Land Reform Bill
Scotland has just passed one of the most controversial pieces of land legislation in modern history — and we brought the experts into the Shoot Room for our first-ever round table to break it wide open.Rich Stockdale PhD sits down with Don MacLeod (lawyer and land reform specialist) and Crawford Mackay (partner at Galbraith) to dismantle the real implications of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill — t
E145 Joe Stanley: How Farmers Can Actually Save the Planet
Joe Stanley has spent his life on the land, but this conversation isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about the brutal, beautiful, and misunderstood reality of modern farming.A farmer, writer, and NFU environmental representative, Joe joins Rich Stockdale PhD to dismantle the myths about what it means to feed the nation while fighting climate change. From soil carbon and silvopasture to biochar and bureau
E144 Molly Biddell: The Wild Blueprint
They called Knepp reckless. Now it’s the blueprint for Britain’s environmental future.Molly Biddell, Head of Natural Capital at Knepp, joins Rich Stockdale PhD to talk about what happens when you stop controlling nature — and start trusting it.From the death of “sustainability” to the birth of new markets for nature, Molly pulls no punches on the realities of rewilding, regulation, and the courage
E143 Richard Peers: The Next Operating System
What if the future of tech wasn’t about faster chips — but deeper values?Richard Peers, founder of Responsible Risk and former Microsoft and Accenture leader, has lived through every technological revolution from the birth of the PC to the rise of AI — and he’s seen what we keep getting wrong.He built alliances without power, sold the future to people terrified of change, and watched as the world’
E142 David Marquet: The Leadership Mutiny
What if the best leaders stopped giving orders altogether?David Marquet — former US Navy submarine commander and author of Turn the Ship Around! — took command of the worst-performing crew in the fleet and transformed them into one of the best. His breakthrough wasn’t about charisma, authority, or discipline. It was about letting go.By replacing command and control with intent and trust, Marquet b
E141 James Shepherd: From Responsibility to Resilience
James Shepherd’s journey began in a family boatyard in South Staffordshire, but his path was never straightforward. Growing up with challenges at home, he learned responsibility far earlier than most, lessons that shaped both his resilience and his ambition.From Cambridge to Knight Frank, from shaping land to shaping a family, James shares how he’s navigated the shift from son to father, and what
E140 Carl Atkin-House: Scaling the Unscalable
What does “scale” really mean when you’re talking about saving the planet?For Carl Atkin-House — Head of Natural Capital Strategy at Climate Asset Management — it’s projects measured in tens of millions of dollars and thousands of hectares. Regenerative agriculture. Sustainable forestry. Environmental assets that prove nature can deliver institutional-grade returns.In this conversation, we go deep
E139 Andy Creak: Natural Capital: A Guide for Institutional Investors
Andy Creak isn’t here to talk about sustainability — he’s here to rewire finance itself.After decades building fintech platforms and taking on titans like Fidelity, Andy turned his attention to the one market still stuck in the dark ages: natural capital. With his company Kana, he’s creating the digital infrastructure to make investing in nature as easy — and as powerful — as buying stocks or bond
E138 Alex Godfrey: Carbon, Cash, and Collapse
Alex Godfrey left a career in high finance to rebuild the rules of investment around the only capital that matters: nature. From the Bolivian Amazon to UK estates, he’s seen firsthand how regenerative agriculture, biodiversity credits, and carbon markets can reshape not just land—but entire economies.This conversation cuts through the noise on ESG and digs into the real questions: How do we make n
E137 Guy Hayler: Building The Blue Earth Summit 2025
Guy Hayler doesn’t just talk about business as a force for good — he’s building the ecosystem to prove it.As co-founder of Blue Earth, Guy has raised £155 million for 60+ purpose-led companies and is connecting founders, corporates, and investors who actually want to change the system, not just tick a sustainability box.From the BE100 campaign filtering 1,000+ startups into the top 100, to BE Vent
E136 Julia Armstrong D'Agnese: Forecasting the Future
Julia Armstrong D’Agnese isn’t selling software. She’s building Earth Knowledge — digital twins of the planet that Fortune 500s, governments, and insurers use to see the future before it hits.From hurricanes to droughts, supply chain shocks to financial collapse — the risks are here, but most of us are still blind to them. Julia and her team fuse climate, weather, and nature data into something mo
E135 Peter Stein: The Conservation Deal-Maker
Peter Stein has spent his life proving that conservation isn’t about nostalgia—it’s about power, money, and strategy.From building urban parks in the South Bronx to managing Lyme Timber’s $900 million portfolio of forests, Peter has been at the intersection of land, finance, and community for decades. He’s seen how conservation easements can outlast politics, and how private capital can scale natu
E134 Anika Staccone: Nature Needs More Than Numbers
Anika Staccone has always lived at the edge of forests and frontiers. From watching pine beetles devastate her childhood landscapes in Colorado, to leading research on nitrogen-fixing trees at Columbia, her path has been shaped by the question of how we truly understand nature. Today, as Product Owner at Earthshot Labs, she is fusing AI, geospatial data and field science into tools that don’t just
E133 Tripp Wall: The Economics of Restoration
Can markets really bring ecosystems back to life?Tripp Wall thinks so — and he’s putting capital where most only put campaigns. As founder of Trailhead Capital and Pantheon Regeneration, he’s scaling restoration projects that don’t just conserve nature, but rebuild it: rivers, forests, biodiversity, and the communities that depend on them.We dive into the economics of regeneration — from voluntary
E132 Shannon Smith: The Truth Behind Offsets
Carbon markets could be the backbone of climate finance.Shannon Smith, Chief Commercial Officer at Chestnut Carbon, joins Rich Stockdale PhD to unpack one of the most controversial tools in climate finance. From planting 30,000 acres of diverse forests to signing a 25-year, 7-million-tonne carbon removal deal with Microsoft, Chestnut Carbon is moving at scale. Backed by JP Morgan, powered by LIDAR
E131 Lauren Carrol: Through the Lost Forest
Lauren Carrol, Chief Operating Officer at BrewDog, takes us inside one of the most talked-about sustainability moves in business: the acquisition — and sale — of The Lost Forest.From a dinner with David Attenborough to buying a Scottish estate, BrewDog has never shied away from bold, ambitious action. Their decision to pass Kinrara Estate on to Oxygen Conservation reflects a recognition that the p
E130 Tim Graham: Wilding Without Limits
What if the systems meant to protect nature are actually holding it back? Tim Graham has spent 20 years inside the world of conservation, and he’s not afraid to call out what’s broken—and what’s possible.From reviving lost species and shaping national policy, to navigating bureaucracy and ethical minefields, Tim takes us behind the scenes of nature recovery like few others can. Rewilding isn’t jus
E129 Paul McMahon: From Soil To Scale
What if farming wasn’t broken — just funded the wrong way?Paul McMahon, Managing Director of SLM Partners, joins Rich to reveal how regenerative agriculture and forestry can become profitable, scalable, and investable.From cattle that restore grasslands to continuous-cover forestry, from carbon markets to “lighthouse” farms inspiring the next generation — this is about turning food and forests int
E128 Franjo Salic: Recharging the Energy Revolution
What if the future of energy isn’t in building new projects — but rebuilding smarter ones?Franjo Salic, Chief Investment Officer at CEE Group, joins Rich in Rotterdam to reveal how repowering and hybridisation are transforming renewables. From turning a 50 MW solar farm into 140 MW on the same land, to combining wind, solar, and storage into resilient super-sites, Franjo explains the real innovati
Shoot Room Session Podcast Trailer
What if the conversations everyone else avoids are the ones we most need to hear?Shoot Room Sessions isn’t about safe answers or polite headlines — it’s about sitting down with people brave enough to rewrite the rules. Entrepreneurs, rebels, innovators, and misfits who don’t wait for permission.🌍 A huge thank you to our sponsor, Knight Frank, for making these conversations possible. Their support
E127 Jake Fiennes: The Wild Return to Holkham
Forget what you think you know about conservation.Jake Fiennes, Director of Conservation at Holkham Estate, is rewriting the rules of land management, biodiversity, and environmental investment in the UK. From bringing cattle egrets and white-tailed eagles back to Norfolk skies, to challenging centuries-old subsidy systems, to asking why ancient woodlands are still undervalued—this episode doesn’t
E126 Jim Murray: Putting a Spotlight On The Stream
Jim Murray’s journey spans the bright lights of hit TV dramas, the creative world of art, and the urgent, often overlooked fight to save Britain’s rivers. As an actor, artist, and conservationist, he’s witnessed the highs and lows of industries that thrive on fear, desperation, and competition — and he’s discovered that the courage to stand your ground matters just as much on a riverbank as it doe
E125 Guy Thompson: The Nature Market Paradox
What if the environment sector doesn’t really exist?Guy Thompson, MD of EnTrade, sits down in the Shoot Room to challenge the very idea of the sector, explore why £3 trillion in potential returns are being ignored, and ask whether nature markets are truly about environmental restoration—or just clever offsets. From regulatory roadblocks to bold innovation, we tackle the uncomfortable truths holdin
E124 Ashlee Murrell: Rewilding Estate Management
What does it take to run 694 acres of land, transform lakes and waterways, and launch a sustainable tourism program that wows hundreds of visitors - all while rewriting the rules of estate management?The Shoot Room Sessions travelled to Manor Farm to sit down with Ashlee Murrell, our estate manager at Manor Farm, to hear her untraditional journey from Manchester to Norfolk, from wedding planning c
E123 Archie Barnes: The Unreasonable Art of Hospitality
What if sustainable tourism wasn’t a niche — but the future of land management?Archie Barnes, Estate Custodian at Mornacott, isn’t just managing land — he’s rewriting the rules on how we connect with it. From a background in marine biology to running one of the UK’s most forward-thinking estates, Archie has turned “unreasonable hospitality” into a tool for conservation, creating experiences so wil
E122 Asher Clark: The Fate of Footwear is Bare
Asher Clark, co-founder of Vivobarefoot, is dismantling the myths we’ve built around footwear. In a world obsessed with more padding, more support, more stuff, he’s asking a radical question: what if less is the way forward?From seventh-generation cobbler roots to creating a global brand on a mission, Asher’s journey is proof that purpose and profit can walk the same path. We talk about the realit
E121 Annabel Thomas: The Future Poured Neat
What if the future of Scotch isn’t in its past — but in tearing up the playbook entirely?Rich sits down with Annabel Thomas, founder of Nc’Nean, the whisky distillery that’s not just rewriting the rules — it’s ignoring them altogether.No dusty traditions. No legacy pretence. Just a radical vision for what whisky could be: organic, elegant, sustainable, and built from the ground up by someone who n
E120 Robert Godfrey: Where the Money Should Grow
Can you build a climate start-up that actually works?Rob Godfrey, co-founder of Treeconomy, sits down in the Shoot Room to challenge the broken logic of carbon markets — and offer something better.They dive into what it means to measure nature like it matters, how remote sensing and rewilding can work hand-in-hand, and why biodiversity has been left behind in the rush to hit Net Zero.This isn’t th
E119 Paddy Dring: The Hidden Cost
What does it really take to stay at the top for nearly four decades?And what do you lose along the way?Rich Stockdale sits down with Paddy Dring, joint head of Knight Frank’s Private Office. With 36 years in the ultra-prime property market, Paddy shares candid insights on balancing relentless client demands with personal sacrifice, the secret to earning trust in a world of billionaires, and how a
E118 Chris Winter: Making the Market
This is the EV movement for nature — invest early or miss out.The Oxygen Conservation Carbon Curve 2025 is here — and in this special episode, Chris Winter and Rich Stockdale take you inside the forecast that's already sending shockwaves through the carbon market.They reveal how a £125-per-tonne deal is shaking up the UK market and rewriting the rules on impact and integrity.They unpack the n
E117 Howard Davies: Where Values Are Distilled
What if the future of luxury… was refillable?Can a bottle still feel premium when it’s been reused — again and again?Howard Davies, co-founder of Salcombe Distilling Co., shares a journey that’s as much about place and purpose as it is about crafting perfect spirits. From the spark of a barbecue conversation to scaling a distillery on the water’s edge, Howard pulls back the curtain on the challeng
E116 Elena Doms: This Plant Could Help Fix the Planet
Born above the Arctic Circle, Elena Doms saw climate collapse before most of us believed it was real. Now she’s leading a not so quiet revolution — not with protests or politics, but with hemp and soil.Rich sits down with the founder of Earth Plus to talk about leaving the corporate world behind, witnessing the Arctic melt in real time, and the urgent fight to restore our most overlooked resource:
E115 Andrew Hicks: Beyond The Herd
Andrew Hicks, CEO of Biodiversity Exchange (bngx) and former NatWest banker, joins Rich Stockdale PhD for a no-nonsense conversation about leadership, ambition, and the real cost of high performance.Andrew shares his journey from global finance to building a digital marketplace aimed at making biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy work in practice — potentially reversing decades of environmental decl
E114 Esme Evans: BNG, Bureaucracy, and Bold Visions
Esme Evans returns to the Shoot Room—ecologist, estate manager, and now a vital part of the Oxygen Conservation Natural Capital team. With a background in marine biology and ecology, Esme’s journey has taken her from discovering new species in Madagascar to managing nearly 1,000 acres of complex estate land in Cornwall.But what does it really take to balance biodiversity goals with community relat
E113 Kat Bruce: Turning Nature into Data
Founder of NatureMetrics and a pioneering force in the emerging field of nature tech - Kat Bruce’s journey is anything but conventional—from studying tropical ecology in the depths of the Amazon rainforest to navigating the challenges of launching a cutting-edge company that uses DNA sequencing to transform how we monitor biodiversity worldwide.Kat shares the story of how next-generation sequencin
E112 Adam Hedley: The Climate Clause
“We called it carbon trading, but no one stopped to ask what we were actually trading.”Carbon markets. ESG litigation. Climate credibility.Adam Hedley, Partner at Clifford Chance, and one of the leading voices in environmental, health & safety (EHS), carbon law, and ESG regulation, joins Rich this week to break it all downFrom growing up in Durham to navigating boardrooms in London and Houston
E111 Ben Bulger: A Recipe For Impact
There’s something magnetic about people who’ve operated at the highest levels — and then had the courage to say, “This isn’t working.”Ben Bulger is one of those people.From the punishing kitchens of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons to the boardrooms of Oxygen House, Ben’s story is a study in transformation — not just of career paths, but of thinking. In this episode of Shoot Room Sessions, he sits down
E110 Benedict Macdonald and Gil Martin: The Price of Restoration
What does it take to scale nature recovery—without owning a single acre?Benedict Macdonald and Gil Martin have been wrestling with that question from opposite ends of the field. Now, for the first time, they sit down together in the Shoot Room.Benedict is a rewilding visionary and award-winning author. Gil built one of the UK’s most ambitious wilding estates from the ground up. Together, they’re l
E109 Bevis Watts: Banking on Nature
What happens when a banker goes in search of beavers—and ends up helping reshape the future of finance?Bevis Watts returns to the Shoot Room for a conversation that spans wild rivers and radical investments. A conservationist in a corporate suit, a scuba diver with a PhD in Management Science, and a CEO unafraid to challenge the foundations of traditional banking—Bevis brings clarity, urgency, and
E108 Abbey Dudas: Chapters of Change
What if we stopped pretending conservation is simple?What if we admitted it’s messy, political, and full of compromise? What if we told the truth — and let that be enough?That’s the book we set out to write.And it wouldn’t exist without Abbey Dudas.Abbey didn’t just edit the book — she challenged it. She made sure we didn’t smooth over the rough edges. She pushed for clarity where there was comple
E107 Will Hayler: Tides of Change
What if your passion wasn’t the destination, but the starting point?Rich Stockdale is joined by Will Hayler, CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Earth — the movement-led platform, shaking up the intersection of climate, entrepreneurship, and capital.From surfboards in Cornwall to global summits in London, Will’s story is one of building not in the spotlight of passion, but in the powerful, messy periphery
E106 Sophie Pavelle: Learning Out Loud
What does absence teach us about nature? And what can parasites, fungi, and strange symbiotic relationships reveal about life — and our place in it?This week, Rich Stockdale sits down with award-winning science communicator and author Sophie Pavelle to talk about curiosity, rejection, career detours, and her unique path into the world of conservation storytelling.Sophie shares the deeply personal
E105 Claire Whitfield: Land, Legacy, and Letting Go
What does it mean to really care for a piece of land—and the people who depend on it?Claire Whitfield has spent over two decades answering that question. As a Partner in Knight Frank’s Rural team, she’s at the heart of a changing industry—helping landowners navigate everything from carbon markets to community impact, all while keeping one eye firmly on the long game.But this isn’t a standard chat
E104 Tom Bloom: The Landscape in Layers
This week, we sit down with Tom Bloom, a drone surveyor and proclaimed “terrain detective” at Oxygen Conservation. With a background as a chartered mechanical engineer and years of experience leading large-scale data capture and digital twinning projects, Tom brings an unmatched perspective to the intersection of technology, land, and impact. From the cutting edge of LiDAR and photogrammetry to th
E103 Sophie Storm Roberts: Summit Your Fear
What if the wildest version of your life is waiting on the other side of yes?Sophie Storm Roberts stopped waiting to feel ready—and that single decision cracked her world wide open. From spreadsheets to summits, pub napkins to Paris, she’s swapped the comfort of tech startups for the chaos of ultramarathons, Ironmans, and Alpine epics. Now the founder of Challenge Sophie, she’s proof that you don’
E102 Alicia Gibson: Financing Our Earth
What if nature had a balance sheet—and we finally learned how to read it? Can private investment be the key to restoring our planet’s most fragile ecosystems? And what does the future of biodiversity markets look like?Alicia Gibson, Director at Finance Earth, joins us to explore the cutting edge of natural capital investment and its role in driving real change for our planet. Alicia takes us on a
E101 John Elkington: The Godfather of Sustainability
John Elkington has spent over four decades shaping the global sustainability movement. Dubbed the “Godfather of Sustainability”, he has advised some of the world’s largest companies, coined influential terms like the Triple Bottom Line, and continuously pushed businesses to think beyond profit.John sits down with Rich Stockdale in our Shoot Room Sessions on tour, for a thought-provoking conversati
E100 Rich Stockdale: Leadership is a Team Sport
Shoot Room Sessions has officially hit triple digits—and we’re celebrating in style with a very special guest. For our 100th episode, we’re joined by OC’s own Rich Stockdale, a transformative leader, environmental pioneer, and the founder of Oxygen Conservation.Rich takes us on a deeply personal journey, from his early struggles in the north of England to becoming a pioneering entrepreneur, he sha
E99 Harriet Bell: The Politics of Your Plate
In this explosive episode of The Shoot Room Sessions, we tackle one of the most urgent issues of our time—how food is the key to fixing our broken health and environment. We can’t keep ignoring the fact that our food choices shape everything from our mental health to the future of the planet.Joining us to dive deep into this conversation is Harriet Bell, the Regenerative Farming Lead at Riverford
