Simon Chater is Green Ink''s founder and director. He has over 25 years’ experience in publishing and public awareness work in and for the international agricultural research system. He joined the International Livestock Centre for Africa in 1979, serving first as translator, then as science writer/editor and finally as Head of Publications, before going freelance in 1986. Since founding Green Ink in 1998, he has continued to work on writing and editorial assignments in addition to directing the company. Recently he served on the editorial group of the UN Millennium Project’s Task Force on Hunger. Simon works from his home in Devon, UK.
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Becky Mitchell is the company’s project manager – the linchpin between its clients and its core team and service providers. Before joining the company in 2003, she worked for several years as an academic journal editor and then in the typesetting and printing industries, giving technical advice and acting as a client liaison. She then freelanced as an editor and project manager. Becky is currently studying for a BSc in environmental science, by correspondence. She works from her smallholding near Stellenbosch in South Africa.
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Anne Downes combines the role of Green Ink''s Project Manager and Editor/Proofreader. She has a background in natural resource management, and ecology, with a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from University of London and an MSc in Environmental Resource Management, with distinction, from University College Dublin. She worked with rural farmers in Malawi and Uganda for over 6 years, serving on community forestry and wildlife farming projects. She managed a coastal zone management project in the west of Ireland and she has lectured in biology. Before joining Green Ink she worked as a freelance project manager and editor for more than 5 years. Anne works from her home in Maynooth in Ireland.
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Christel Blank, a graphic artist and former art teacher, has worked for Green Ink since the company began operations in 1998. A citizen of Germany who now makes her home in Devon, UK, she enjoys her design and layout work for Green Ink’s many clients around the world. Christel has a university degree in art history, as well as a Higher National Diploma in graphic design from the College of Art and Design in Plymouth. One of her first Green Ink assignments was the company logo.
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Sophie Higman has a background in forestry and rural livelihoods with a BA (Hons) in Zoology and an MSc in Forestry and its Relation to Land Use from Oxford University. She has lived, worked and travelled in Latin America for over 10 years, working on forestry and sustainable development projects. She has written two books, on sustainable forest management and farmers’ access to markets in Latin America, as well as numerous papers, travel articles and academic teaching courses. Before joining Green Ink she worked as a freelance writer and editor in Mexico. Sophie is based in Leamington Spa, UK.
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Writer and editor Sue Parrott has been with Green Ink for seven years. A background in environmental science gives her a sound knowledge of natural resources management and she has written extensively on water and other environmental issues, as well as more broadly across the spectrum of disciplines associated with agricultural R&D. Recently, for example, she worked on corporate and project reports for Africa Harvest and the Global Water Partnership. This year, the CGIAR invited her to write a ‘live blog’ at a recent Change Management retreat in Los Baños, the Philippines. The initiative was well received by all and is being repeated at the AGM in Maputo, Mozambique. When not on assignment, Sue works from her home in the tiny hamlet of Slow Ducks, in Devon, UK.
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Erin O’Connell holds a BSc Honours in Biology and English literature. An early interest in development led her to Benin to research traditional medicine practices, after which she travelled widely in Africa and India. Prior to joining Green Ink in January 2008, she spent over six years in a multimedia environment as a medical writer and editor, coordinating online video productions at conferences in Europe and North America. Recent work for Green Ink includes the UNDP State of Human Development report, the CGIAR Change Management process and a joint World Bank-United Nations strategy paper on avian influenza. Erin is fluent in French as well as English and lives in Montreal, Canada.
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Emily Macleod is Green Ink’s Human Resources and Business Manager, based in Devon, UK. She holds a BSc Honours in sociology with HR management and is a qualified member of the UK''s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. With over six years’ experience in HR management and an award for her work promoting diversity initiatives, she specializes in the initial setup of business and HR systems. One of Emily’s key roles is to ensure the Green Ink team is happy and effective so that we deliver the very best to our clients.
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