Amy Slack

Having only joined the team in February 2019, I am one of the newest faces at the SAS HQ. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind what with uprooting from my life in Bristol to ‘live the dream’ working and living in beautiful Cornwall. I also managed to time starting at SAS on the same day as the Government launched four big consultations on legislation that could be hugely influential in tackling the issues of packaging pollution which I led SAS’s response on….no pressure then!  I’m now a fully indoctrinated part of the Campaigns and Projects ‘pod’ and am responsible for the delivery of a range of projects, including our Plastic Free Communities programme, our re-developed (award winning!) Safer Seas Service, recently published Water Quality Report, and our political lobbying work. It has been particularly amazing to be outside parliament in my wetsuite with The Creature and placards calling for MP’s to protect the ocean during the day and then inside the Houses of Parliament, suited and booted, hosting our Ocean Conservation All Party Parliamentary Group a few hours later!

I’ve been working in the environmental sector for over 10 years now, starting my career on the Isles of Scilly working for the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team where I led beach cleans, initiated the Island’s ‘No Butts on the Beach’ campaign, and worked with colleagues on the Scilly Waste project. After moving back to the mainland and doing my Master’s degree, I spent a bit of time working in local authority waste management services before moving into environmental consultancy, working for Eunomia Research & Consulting for almost 7 years. Specialising in waste and resource management, I learnt an incredible amount across the range of environmental areas Eunomia work in. I worked with a really wide range of clients to influence policy at an organisational, local, and national level as well as managed fascinating pieces of research.

In 2017, I was given the opportunity to take a sabbatical to lead a marine plastic project for an NGO in the Philippines where we monitored marine debris found and identified a range of initiatives to try and tackle the issue at a local level. Returning back to Eunomia, my focus shifted back to marine debris, where I started my career some 10 years previously, managing projects focused on policy initiatives to address the issue of packaging pollution. So the opportunity to work for SAS to use my experience and get involved in community and campaigning work seemed like a logical next step.

As a westcountry lass I know Cornwall pretty well, but it’s incredible to be living here permanently. I’m so breath-taken by how beautiful Cornwall is. I’m a bit of a keen cyclist so peddling around Cornish lanes as the spring hedgerow flowers were coming out this year was amazing. I’ve also been getting in the sea as much as possible and now learning to surf so I can join the rest of the office ‘out the back’ of the waves…..just to look cool of course!