Staff

Details for all Jurassic Coast Staff can be seen below. Our team works in a hybrid model, splitting our time between working from our office at Brooklands Farm near Dorchester and home-working.

If you would like to get in touch, please feel free to email us or call our main number on 01308 807000. You can also see our full Contact information.

Lucy Culkin

Lucy is Chief Executive Officer, providing dynamic leadership, direction and innovation to the Jurassic Coast Trust to enable it to deliver its vision, values, objectives and to ensure future sustainability.

Lucy is responsible for the effective coordination of the World Heritage Site Partnership Plan, facilitating, motivating and encouraging partner involvement and delivering the JCT’s responsibilities within it.

She has overall responsibility for World Heritage Site Management and programme delivery; advocacy and external relationships, governance, risk, legal and financial management and management of the Jurassic Coast Trust staff team.

Lucy’s background is firmly grounded in non-profit organisations with responsibility for leadership, development and governance. She is currently studying for her MBA at Birmingham University; she gained her Masters degree from Bournemouth University in 2007 and graduated from Southampton Solent University in 1999.

Lucy’s Jurassic Coast hot-spot

"It’s a hard choice between Old Harry Rocks which I can see each day when I go walking my dog along the beaches in Poole and Kimmeridge Bay, which is best visited (in my opinion) on a windy, wet and wild day. In fact, just go to both!"

Sam Scriven

Sam is the Head of Heritage and Conservation at the Jurassic Coast Trust. Sam’s role is to provide strategic leadership, expertise and content creation relating to the management of the World Heritage Site. Working with stakeholders, partners and Trustees, Sam deputises for the CEO and is a member of the Leadership Team.

Since joining the Jurassic Coast Team in 2009 as Earth Science Adviser, Sam has had input into a great many aspects of the team’s work with a focus on the conservation of the World Heritage Site, developing interpretation and co-ordinating involvement with events.

Sam grew up only a few miles away from the Jurassic Coast and it is where he developed his interest in geology and fossils. After gaining a Masters in Geology from the University of Plymouth, he worked as assistant warden and geologist at the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre for four years.

The experience he gained there in geological interpretation led him on to the position of Earth Science Adviser for the Jurassic Coast. He has always been determined to work in geological conservation and interpretation and feels privileged to be able to work along the coastline that he loves and that inspired him to study geology in the first place.

Outside work Sam plays the piano, reads and goes for the occasional long walk. He is also a self-confessed sci-fi nerd and spends too much time on his Xbox One.

Sam’s Jurassic Coast hotspot

"In between Bowleaze and Ringstead, especially the coast path. It’s where I went fossil hunting as a child in the winter and spent many lazy days rookpooling in the summer. It has all kinds of funny nooks and crannies and, of course, a nice pub."

Guy Kerr

Guy is the Trust’s Business Development Manager. He plays a key role in developing the Trust’s income strategy, alongside the CEO, and subsequently implementing the strategy, engaging the wider team, to accelerate income growth in a sustainable manner.

Guy is responsible for generating income across a range of income streams, focusing on donations from trusts and foundations, business partners, individual members, corporate sponsorship and legacies; which enables the Jurassic Coast Trust to resource its strategies to deliver programmes of work which positively impact the World Heritage Site.
 
Guy’s background is in marketing and fundraising. He graduated in Marketing & Film Production from Curtin University in his native Western Australia in 2004, then worked for a variety of non-profit organisations including EveryChild in London and New Zealand Red Cross, and has been with the Jurassic Coast Trust since 2014.
 
Guy’s Jurassic Coast hot-spot

"I am a big fan of the Undercliffs Reserve, a real hidden gem on the Jurassic Coast. The dramatic vegetation and secluded atmosphere make for a stunning walk, starting from either Lyme Regis or Axmouth."

Dr. Chris Reedman

Chris is the Jurassic Coast Trust’s Conservation Officer (Palaeontology) and is responsible for delivering the Jurassic Coast Collection programme. Chris recently completed his PhD on taphonomy in the Jurassic mudrocks of Dorset, and has a lifelong passion for fossils.

Chris' Jurassic Coast hot-spot

“I’ve been interested in fossils for as long as I can remember! My mother was always interested in fossils when I was young and so my parents would take us fossil collecting most weekends. I have many fond memories of cold winter days on the coast, collecting fossils and getting very muddy!”

Dr. Lauren Sewell

Lauren is the Jurassic Coast Trust’s Earth Science Digital Content Creator. Lauren works on creating scientific web and social media content. Lauren’s background is in palaeoecology and museum collections. Lauren gained an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Archaeology from University of Durham and a Masters degree in Zooarchaeology (animal archaeology).

She then worked on museum projects across the country and moved to Dorset to start her PhD in palaeoecology at Bournemouth University in 2015. As well as being fascinated by the science, she enjoys running and exploring the coastal paths of the Jurassic Coast.

Lauren's Jurassic hot-spot

"I love running up the paths from Studland Bay and across the grassy fields at the top where you get fantastic panoramic views of Old Harry Rocks…as well as trying but so far failing to see dolphins from Durlston Castle."

Sally Cooper

Sally joined the Jurassic Coast Trust in July 2022 as Business Development Officer, assisting with income generation for the Trust's Trading Co. This entails recruiting and managing relationships with the JCT's Business Partners, managing the JCT's retail and wholesale product lines, developing the JCT's Membership offer, and inputting into income-generating events.

Helen Akerman

I look after the Trust’s finances. As a qualified accountant, I have worked for a range of organisations but none that have matched my passions until working for the Jurassic Coast Trust. Working for a small charity gives me an oversight of all aspects of the business and I feel very much part of the team.

I grew up living by the sea in Hampshire and spent many weekends in Purbeck for family walks and picnics. My favourite places to visit are Kimmeridge Bay and Winspit – so different from the Hampshire coast.

Helen’s Jurassic Coast hot-spot
Now that I live in Somerset, I am still drawn to the coast for dog walking and the occasional run. There is nothing quite like being by the sea to clear your mind and energise the body! I love walking up Thorncombe Beacon, either from Eype Beach or Seatown. The view towards Portland Bill is stunning on a clear day.

Stuart Godman

Since 2007 I have been employed on a seasonal basis as a fossil warden for the beaches of Lyme Regis and Charmouth, in order to give advice to keen amateur fossil hunters on the safest way to collect fossils.

This is achieved by patrolling the beaches and giving people who are actively digging, hammering or climbing in or on the cliffs some advice, and to point out the dangers of this site. I often give 5-10 minute mini fossil walks along the beach showing people some of the better places to find fossils.

I have found that this non-confrontational approach is very much appreciated and often results in happy children and parents who go away with a few prized specimens rather than a bucket of rocks.

As well as the dangers of the cliffs, people are often unaware of the dangers of the sea and tides. On a rising tide I make an effort to advise people, so that they are on a safe part of the beach and not liable to be cut off by the rising tide.

I have always felt that it is important to talk to people, not only about the dangers but generally about any issues they may have and to that end I am only too happy to answer any questions or more commonly try and identify fossils they have found.

Stuart’s Jurassic Coast hot-spot
"My favourite part of the Jurassic Coast would have to be the Fleet Lagoon with its feast of wildlife throughout the year, from wintering geese and other waders to skylarks and myriads of butterflies during the summer, every season has something different to offer, it’s a truly wonderful place to either sit in contemplation or just walk with the dog."

 
Sally King

In 2000, I got a job with the Dorset Coast Forum, as part of the team seeking to secure World Heritage Site status for the Dorset and East Devon Coast. A year later, with World Heritage Site status under our belt, the Jurassic Coast Team came to be.

I was instrumental in setting up and developing the Jurassic Coast as a brand and as a destination. I feel incredibly proud now when I see how well embedded the brand is in the local community, and how well recognised the Jurassic Coast is as a global destination.

My role changed in 2017 when I was successful in applying for a new joint post with the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Jurassic Coast Trust. I am based in County Hall, Dorchester but still work across the whole Jurassic Coast and am in regular contact with my colleagues in the Jurasic Coast Trust.

My remit is wide and varied, and includes everything from interpretation and landscaping improvements along the coast, to helping harder to reach audiences access the coast and countryside – and of course finding the funding to make things happen in the first place.

My background is Human Geography, so I am no geological expert although after all these years, I have a pretty robust knowledge of the basics. In my spare time, my current slightly obsessive hobby is sea rowing which I do competitively for Bridport Gig Rowing Club.
 
Sally’s Jurassic Coast hot-spot
"Ringstead Bay and White Nothe just clinch it, although the view between West Bay and Burton Bradstock from the gig comes a very close second."