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 Willetts 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 and a visiting Professor at King’s College, London. He serves on 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.
Lori Frecker - Learned and Professional Societies Liaison Officer
Lori Frecker is the Learned and Professional Societies Liaison Officer. She supports learned and professional societies on governance, legal and regulatory matters, and publishes the Foundation’s quarterly newsletter for those societies.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Lori held senior diversity and inclusion roles at the Royal Society, Judicial Appointments Commission and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has formerly worked at the Law Society, advising on policy related to conveyancing, anti-money laundering, and planning and environmental law. Lori was also previously part of the Legal Services Act commencement team at the Ministry of Justice, and is a former deputy editor of the Chambers UK legal directory.
Concurrent with her work at the Foundation, Lori is Director of Policy for the Costs Lawyer Standards Board. Outside of work, she is part of the management team of Read Easy Medway, a charity that helps adults who want to learn to read.
Charlotte Raynsford - Communications Manager
Charlotte Raynsford joined the Foundation in January 2024 as Communications Manager. Her responsibilities involve writing and editing the Foundation’s journal and managing the Foundation's communications strategy as well as co ordinating the website, social media and FST blog and podcast.
Charlotte has a background in communications and press work for science and policy, previously working with the Zoological Society London (ZSL) and the British Veterinary Association (BVA). She has a degree in journalism and photojournalism and a special interest in ecology and wildlife conservation. She hopes to pursue further study in these fields in the future.