Staff

Dr Karen Purnell is a chartered chemist and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Prior to joining ITOPF in 1994 she was a Project Manager involved in nuclear/toxic waste management and environmental remediation. She was promoted to Managing Director in May 2009.

Dr Michael O’Brien is a natural resource economist with experience in the fields of environmental impact analysis, resource valuation, and damage assessment. Prior to joining ITOPF in 2001, Michael worked in the United States for the NOAA Damage Assessment Center as well as in Austria as Assistant Professor for Environmental Economics.  He was promoted to Technical Team Manager in September 2009.

Dr Franck Laruelle is a marine biologist and previously worked with the French research organization CEDRE. He has acted as a technical adviser on behalf of the French government on a number of spills, including ERIKA and PRESTIGE.  Franck joined ITOPF in 2006 and was promoted to Technical Team Manager in January 2010.

Senior Technical Advisers

Dr Henk Renken is a marine ecologist and has a master's degree in tropical coastal management. Before joining ITOPF in 2009 he worked as a project manager for the Bonaire National Marine Park and as a consultant on coastal/marine conservation projects in Sri Lanka and Vietnam with a focus on mangroves, coral reefs and seagrasses.

Dr Annabelle Nicolas-Kopec earned her doctorate in organic chemistry in 2010. She has postgraduate research experience in cell biology, computer modelling and synthetic chemistry. She also has a masters degree in chemical engineering. She joined ITOPF in January 2011. 

Dr Nicola Beer is a marine ecologist who has previously worked in the UK, New Zealand and the Caribbean. She has experience in environmental impact assessment in relation to marine aggregate extraction and fisheries characterisation and monitoring. She joined ITOPF in July 2011.

Miguel Patel has a degree in zoology and a master's degree in environmental management. He has research experience in ecotoxicology, population dynamics and habitat restoration. Miguel joined ITOPF as a Technical Adviser in October 2011.

Dr Ann Zhang is an environmental scientist. She holds a master's degree in environmental engineering and a doctorate in energy storage system. Prior to joining ITOPF, she worked as a research scientist on several projects examining the toxicity of nanomaterials using biomembrane mimetic systems. She joined ITOPF as a Technical Adviser in October 2012.

Nicky Cariglia has a master’s in tropical coastal management. She has experience in the design, implementation and analysis of environmental and fisheries monitoring programmes. She joined ITOPF in October 2012 after working for an international consultancy providing technical advice on fisheries compliance, policy and regulatory frameworks, environmental impact, and monitoring, control and surveillance operations.

Tim Wadsworth has degrees in engineering and in law. He joined ITOPF in 1991 and has subsequently been involved in many spills internationally. His primary role is to provide advice on spill response resources and to assist in the assessment of claims for compensation for clean-up activities. He became Technical Support Manager in 2006 and is responsible for ITOPF's technical support functions.

Lisa Stevens has a degree in physics with satellite technology.  Before joining ITOPF in 2006, she worked at a defence and technology company on their satellite programme and information mapping service. Her responsibilities at ITOPF include developing and maintaining ITOPF’s Geographic Information System and other project work.

Technical Support Co-ordinators

Iain Harrison has a master's degree in law and environmental science.  He has previously worked as an environmental consultant and an environmental risk underwriter.  He joined ITOPF in 2010 and his duties include claims assessment and other project work.

Jayne Foster is a previous employee of ITOPF and rejoined the team in 2012.  Jayne is secretary to the Technical Director and provides administrative support to the technical team including travel duties.  Other responsibilities include managing the central filing system, email tracking system and project work.

Secretary to the Support & Development Director

Carla Smith has a background in entrepreneurship and business studies. She has previously worked for a global consultancy firm as PA to the directors prior to joining ITOPF in 2009.  Her main duties involve providing secretarial support to the technical group.

Deborah Ansell has an MA in librarianship and joined ITOPF in 1996 from the Institute of Petroleum Library. She is responsible for maintaining ITOPF's extensive library of technical publications, the website and Country Profiles.

Chris Pavey joined ITOPF in 2006 as IT Support Technician. He was promoted to IT Systems Manager in January 2011 and is responsible for maintaining ITOPF’s IT systems.

Amanda Howarth has an MBA and joined ITOPF in 2000. In total, she has over 10 years' experience of the tanker industry and 16 years' experience in managerial accounts. Her responsibilities at ITOPF include the management of its financial affairs, membership procedures and company administration.

Doreen Pounds has 30 years' accounts experience and joined ITOPF in 2001. She is responsible for ITOPF’s accounting transactions, including the collection of Membership and Associate dues.

Chee-Ming Chung has a higher national diploma in business and finance and 15 years’ accounts experience across a variety of sectors. He joined ITOPF in 2012 and provides administrative support for ITOPF’s financial activities.  

Carol Remnant joined ITOPF in 2001. She is an Associate Member of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), with over 10 years' practical Human Resources experience. She is responsible for maintaining and developing all personnel and ITOPF people-related issues, as well as additional administration tasks.

Karen Young has eight years' experience working within a membership administration role at the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST).  She joined ITOPF in August 2008 and is responsible for all matters relating to Membership, including the issuance of Membership Record Forms and liaising with relevant parties.

Terry Goodchild worked for a market research company prior to joining ITOPF in 2002. As well as acting as Receptionist, she is the Managing Director's Secretary, undertakes general clerical duties and is responsible for the distribution of ITOPF's publications.

Rose Ying has a degree in English literature from the Shanghai International Studies University where she specialised in cross-culture communication. She has a background in business development, marketing and liaison with a combined experience of eight years working for the British, Australian and Swedish Consulates in Shanghai. She began working for ITOPF in July 2012 and is based in Shanghai. She is responsible for raising the awareness of ITOPF’s technical services and developing working relations in China. 

应晓旻小姐持有上海外国语大学语言文学学士学位，专攻跨文化交流。在英国，澳大利亚，瑞典领事馆商务处工作8年, 具有协调联络, 市场营销及推动商务发展等综合经验。 自2012年7,她即为国际油轮污染防治协会工作，工作地为上海。主要职责为提升国际油轮污染防治协会技术服务在中国的认知度包括在中国业务的拓展。