Mr. Charlie Stratford

Charlie leads the Business and Partnership Development team at UKCEH, and is responsible for building relationships with private and third sector organisations. 

Charlie’s research background is in wetland hydro-ecology, and he joined the hydro-ecology and wetlands group at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), now UKCEH, in 2001. The focus of his early research was the hydrological processes that link wetland habitats to their surroundings. His research has naturally evolved with an increasing focus on the benefits that wetland habitats provide to people, and understanding the underpinning characteristics of habitats from which these benefits are derived. In 2016, Charlie was awarded a Knowledge Exchange Fellowship by the Natural Environment Research Council, to support regional-scale policy and decision makers in including natural capital and ecosystem services in their processes.

Charlie managed UKCEH’s Water Evidence Review Consortium contract for Defra and has delivered evidence synthesis training to customers across public and private sectors. Since 2017 he has led UKCEH’s engagement with the water sector, working at the interface between research, policy and application. Charlie maintains close links to academia and is assistant editor of the journal Mires and Peat, represents UKCEH in the UK Water Partnership and sits on the UK WFD Wetland Technical Advisory Group.