Marc Hannis
Marc manages Ofwat’s flagship £400m Innovation Fund, overseeing the delivery of the Water Breakthrough Challenge and Water Discovery Challenge competitions alongside stakeholder relationships and the strategic direction of the fund. He has led on the Ofwat Innovation Fund since its inception in 2019. Marc has worked in regulation for 15 years, first with the Gambling Commission and more latterly with Ofwat since 2014.
Ben Tam
Ben Tam is the CEO of Isle a global consultancy accelerating innovation in water and climate change. With a PhD in biochemistry and expertise in early-stage technology investment, he bridges science and strategy to drive impact. Ben works with utilities, startups, and investors to scale transformative water technologies. He champions collaboration to unlock sustainable solutions. His mission: to turn cutting-edge innovation into real-world impact for water and climate resilience.
Dr. Isabel Brandão
Dr. Isabel Brandão is a researcher at Aberystwyth University, leading the project “Living Watersources” funded by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW). Her work focuses on improving water quality monitoring through advanced geospatial techniques and remote sensing, with applications in both inland and coastal waters. With a Ph.D. in Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, Dr. Brandão collaborates with Plymouth Marine Laboratory to enhance the use of satellite data in deriving downstream products (Chlorophyll-a and Total Suspended Matter) for small water bodies. Her research is key to the Living Wales and Living Water Sources initiatives, driving innovative approaches to water quality monitoring in Wales.
Davey Jones
Davey Jones holds a Professorial Chair in Environmental Science and Public Health at Bangor University. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow held jointly between Cornell University and the US Department of Agriculture in the USA (with Prof Leon Kochian). He also carried out postdoctoral work under Prof Simon Gilroy at Penn State University (now Madison, WI). A major focus of his research is on understanding below-ground processes with specific focus on nutrients and human pathogen behavior in water-food-soil-plant-microbial systems. His research portfolio is quite broad – reflecting his interests from natural sciences through to social sciences (i.e. science linked to changing human behaviour).
He has advised UK and Welsh Government on their COVID-19, public health, agriculture, waste and climate change policies. His research is funded via UKRI (NERC, EPSRC, BBSRC), Welsh Government, DHSC, UKHSA, Food Standards Agency, DEFRA and the European Union. He was a member of the SAGE COVID-19 sub-committee ‘Transmission of Covid-19 in the Wider Environment Group (TWEG)’ and was head of the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Group – Environment (TAG-E) for Welsh Government and reported to the UK Government COVID-19 Public Inquiry. He also collaborates with industry to deliver novel solutions to environmental problems and improve product sustainability. He currently leads the ‘Wastewater-based public health surveillance programme for Wales’ and sits on the UKWIR Substances of Emerging Concern Advisory Group (SECAG).
Chedly Tizaoui
Chedly Tizaoui is a Full Professor of Chemical Engineering at Swansea University (UK) and leads the Water and Resources Recovery Research Lab, focusing on innovative solutions to address critical water and environmental challenges. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Ozone: Science and Engineering (Taylor & Francis) and as an Editor for the Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration (Springer Nature).
Tizaoui’s research interests include Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs), particularly those based on ozonation, non-thermal plasma, photocatalysis, and other catalytic techniques to eliminate emerging contaminants in water and wastewater such as pharmaceuticals, PFAS, pesticides, and antimicrobial agents. His work also covers advanced physical treatment methods including membranes, granular activated carbon (GAC), and ion exchange, often in combination with AOPs. With an extensive publication record in leading water, environmental, and chemical engineering journals, as well as numerous book chapters, conference proceedings, and professional reports, Tizaoui’s research has attracted funding from a variety of sources, including research councils (e.g., EPSRC, BBSRC, EU), industry, OFWAT, and government bodies. He previously served as the Director of the Chemical and Environmental Engineering programs at Swansea University and is a Fellow of the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE).
Nadia De Longhi
Nadia is currently Head of Regulation and Permitting in Natural Resources Wales, responsible for regulatory policy and innovation across Wales. She has worked at NRW and its predecessor (Environment Agency Wales) since 2000 and has held various posts including Waste Licensing team leader, Strategy and Policy manager and Operations Manager in South Central Wales. Prior to that she worked for Hills Waste Management Ltd in Wiltshire, initially as an environmental sampler and working her way up to Landfill Manager and Environmental Manager.
Nadia has an MSc in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester and became a chartered member of Chartered Institute of Wastes Management in 1999.
Kit Wilson
Kit Wilson is the Interim Director of Household and Developer Customers at Welsh Water. Before that he has also held the positions of Director Operational Services and Head of Transformation. Prior to joining Welsh Water, Kit held the position of Partnership Director with Agilisys and was responsible for Customer Service, IT, HR, Payroll, Facilities, Procurement and Revenue & Benefits for the South West.
Dr Jonathan-Lee Jones
Jon is a senior consultant with a broad range of experience in the fields of military CIS, data science, computer vision and machine learning. Jon has a strong academic background with an MSc in Computer Science and a PhD in Computer Vision & Machine learning. Before joining ITSUS he lectured in Swansea University and acted as liaison between the College of Science and the International College. At ITSUS, Jon has built upon his development knowledge, applying it to provide real world experience in team leadership, and problem solving as well as strengthening his diverse skills base. Jon has worked on projects for several Tier-1 Defence prime contractors, as well as leading the research team, and collaboration with our academic partners.
Lewis D'Ambra
Lewis holds a BA in History and an MA in International Security and Development with an interest in how governments work, operate and function effectively. He has a range of experience engaging with and working for local, devolved and national governments as well with supranational bodies and regulators from a number of industries.
Nick Tune
Nick is CEO of OptimiseAI which he co-founded as a spin out from Cardiff University in 2023. OptimiseAI has gone on to win the 2024 Wales tech startup of the year and secure clients such as Network Rail, University of Wales, Luton Airport, and others. He is also a commissioner for the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales. Nick is passionate about utilising technology such as AI and digital twins to improve the sustainability of the built environment.