MEET THE TEAM
The Foundation's activities are delivered by a small professional team, based in the Foundation's offices in Greencoat Place, London.
Gavin Costigan - Chief Executive
Gavin Costigan is the Foundation's Chief Executive, a position he's held since March 2019. He is responsible for delivering the Foundation's programme of activities, leading the Foundation Future Leaders scheme, and hosting the FST Podcast.
Previous to working at the Foundation, Gavin was at the University of Southampton, most recently as Director of Public Policy - brokering relationships between researchers and policy makers, delivering training to academics on how to interact with policymakers, and increasing the policy impact of research at the University. He was the inaugural chair of the UK’s Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN).
His first career was as a civil servant in central government, spending just under 17 years, in what is now the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as well as in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. His roles included leading the network of science attachés in UK embassies, managing the Large Facilities Capital Fund within the Science Budget, and reviewing the governance of Research Council Institutes.
Rt Hon. the Lord Willets FRS - Chair of the Foundation for Science and Technology
The Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS was appointed Chair of the Foundation for Science and Technology in December 2018. He is the President of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit.
Lord Willetts is Chair of the UK Space Agency, a Board member of UKRI and a visiting Professor at King’s College, London. He serves on the Board of Darktrace, the Biotech Growth Trust and SynBioVen. He is an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and a member of the Council of the University of Southampton. His book A University Education is published by OUP. A second edition of his book on the Boomers and the young generation The Pinch was published in 2019. His paper The Eight Great Technologies 10 Years on - an Industrial Strategy? Is published by Policy Exchange.
Dr Dougal Goodman OBE FREng - Vice-President and Editor of FST Journal
Dr Dougal Goodman OBE FREng, is editor of the Foundation’s journal, FST Journal, and a Vice President of the Foundation. He was previously Chief Executive of The Foundation from 2000 to 2019.
His wide interests include advising on strategy development and implementation with a focus on risk management for both government bodies and companies.
He has had a life-long interest in the polar regions and has led many expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic studying how sea ice and floating glaciers are broken up by ocean waves and forces on structures in ice infested waters.
He has a done consulting work for the marine insurance market. For many years he advised the International Group of the P&I Clubs who provide reinsurance for third party liability for 90% of the global commercial shipping fleet. He was non-executive Chairman of the Lighthill Risk Network, a consortium of insurance companies working to bridge the gap between the insurance market and the research community.
He is a former Deputy Director of the British Antarctic Survey and a general manager for BP where he worked in the Chief Executive’s strategy team, was head of safety for the company, worked on risk management in the Company Secretary’s department, as operations manager for the Magnus oil field and as an offshore production manager, and in research management.
He has served on a wide range of committees including the Advisory Board of the Financial Services Knowledge Transfer Network and the Public Affairs Committee of The Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Physics, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He has a MA and PhD from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University and a Masters in Management from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
He is a visiting professor at Cranfield University and an Emeritus Fellow at the British Antarctic Survey.
He was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2012 and has the Polar Medal for leading expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic.
Angela Pusey - Senior PA and Events Manager
Angela joined the Foundation for Science and Technology as Senior PA and Events Manager in September 2014 and is responsible for managing the diary of the Chief Executive, Gavin Costigan and administering the Foundation’s programme of discussion events.
Angela previously worked at two principal academic bodies during her career, at the British Academy for seventeen years from 1996 until 2013 and also at the British Council for twelve years from 1982 to 1994.
Angela has a Master’s degree in Management Practice, Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Management and a BA Honours degree in Social Sciences. She is a member of the Institute of Leadership and Management. Outside of work, Angela is Church Council Secretary and Steward at her local Methodist Church.
Keith Lawrey - Learned Societies' Liaison Officer
Keith Lawrey is the Learned Societies Liaison Officer, a role he has held since 1997. In this role, he supports around 250 learned and professional societies, publishing guidance notes on governance and legal issues, giving legal guidance on charity, company, and constitutional matters, and supporting others to form limited liability companies and petition for incorporation by Royal Charter. He also publishes a quarterly newsletter for learned and professional societies.
The earlier part of his career was spent in education – lecturing in business studies and law in what is now Buckingham New University, Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education and Harrow College of Higher Education and as headmaster of Cannock School. This was interspersed with working in professional bodies – as Secretary General of the Library Association, and Secretary and Registrar of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Keith has been a Liveryman with the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries since 1977. In 2001 he registered the Guild of Educators with the City of London and subsequently as Honorary Foundation Clerk, he took the Guild through to Worshipful Company status in 2014. He has been made an honorary member of several other Companies.
Bella Johnson-Martin - Communications and Social Media Officer
Bella Johnson-Martin joined the foundation in November 2022 as a communications and social media officer. Her responsibilities involve managing the Foundation's communications including the website, social media and FST blog and podcast.
Bella has a BSc in Biological Sciences with honours in Biotechnology from The University of Edinburgh and is currently pursuing her MSc Master's degree in Science Media Production at Imperial College London. Bella is the Website Manager at the I,Science magazine, a science magazine led and produced by Imperial College students, covering science news, events, reviews and features. She is also fulfilling her role as a Communicator in Residence at Imperal College London's Institute of Infection, working in a communications team on to produce a multimedia website that highlights the importance of interdisciplinarity in infections research and science in order to aid early career researchers.