SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Speaker: APCC NPCC Partnership Summit 2025: Building Safer Communities in a Connected World, 'After Encrochat, London, 19 November 2025
Offered perspectives on the overarching threat from organised crime five years on from the shut down of EncroChat in 2020.

Speaker: RUSI-ICMM Roundtable 'Getting Gold Right: Lessons for Addressing Criminal Infiltration of Mineral Supply Chains', London, 15 October 2025
Presented opening overview and remarks on the need to bring together key stakeholders across sectors to assess the effectiveness of efforts to tackle illicit gold, and explore their application to criminal exploitation of wider mineral supply chains. 

Speaker: ICMM Responsible Mining Leadership Forum 2025, 'Illegal Mining: What, Why and What Can be Done About It?, London, 15 October 2025
Presented insights, alongside former UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Minsur CEO Juan Luis Kruger, into the complex factors underpinning illegal mining, its impact and potential interventions. Called for a more coherent response and initiatives to address siloed thinking and action across the system.

Speaker: European Union Outermost Regional Advisory Council (Conseil Consultative pour les Regions Ultraperipheriques - CCRUP), 'Group de Travail Peche INN', Gran Canaria, 17 September 2025
Presented information on the current evidence  base on the links between illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and climate change, including findings from RUSI's Global Horizon Scan on Future IUU Fishing Trends in a Warming World. 

Speaker: G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group - Science Policy Dialogue, 'Galvanising Multilateral Action on Crimes that Affect the Environment', Cape Town, 12 September 2025
Authored and presented G20 Presidency technical paper, with Frances Craigie, South African National Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, on the multidimensional threat posed by crimes that affect the environment and the need for ambitious G20 action on the issue. Resulted in the adoption of the G20 Cape Town Ministerial Declaration on Crimes that Affect the Environment - a historic first.

Speaker: Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE) Annual Conference, 'Crisis Responses and Corruption in Vulnerable Sectors', Brighton, 8 September 2025
Presented updates from ongoing delivery of RUSI research on corruption risk in voluntary carbon markets, with a focus on potential vulnerabilities across verification and certification processes.

Speaker: The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales and Villars Insitute, 'Private Workshop on Systemic Action to Address IWT and Linkages with Broader Environmental Crimes', Villars, Switzerland, 18 March 2025
Provided overarching context and raised fundamental questions on the effectiveness of global efforts to address IWT, against the backdrop of the conclusions of the latest UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report, namely that UNODC analysis gives ‘no confidence that wildlife trafficking overall is being substantially reduced’.

Speaker: Labour Party, ‘First Steps for Change’, ‘Border Security in the UK’, online, 16 May 2024
Presented evidence-based recommendations deriving from RUSI research on border security and countering organised immigration crime. 

Speaker: UK Foreign, Common and Development Office/Serious Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Evidence Research Programme (SOC ACE), ‘Targeted Sanctions and Serious and Organised Crime: The Role of Political Will’, online, 20 May 2024
Presented project plan and findings to date to key UK government stakeholders, as PI on new SOC ACE project on the centrality of political will to the effectiveness of targeted sanctions use against organised crime and related policy implications.

Speaker: Governance and Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE), Phase II Launch Workshop, ‘Interrogating Corruption Risk in the Climate Transition: Trading in Voluntary Carbon Markets’, Brighton, 22 February 2024
Presented information as PI on new RUSI-led GI-ACE project analysing anti-corruption evidence in relation to trading in voluntary carbon markets and the implications for climate security. 

Chair: RUSI Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2023, 'Closing Keynote Address' and 'Closing Remarks', London, 4 December 2023
Chaired closing sessions on Day 1 of RUSI's inaugural Serious and Organised Crime Conference, hosting speeches by Chris Jones, Home Office, and James Babbage, Director General of Threats, National Crime Agency. 

Chair: RUSI Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2023, 'Panel 1: Scale and Nature of Organised Crime in the 21st Century', London, 4 December 2023
Chaired opening session on Day 1 of RUSI's inaugural Serious and Organised Crime Conference, providing an overview of the scale, nature and complexity of the threat as it impacts the UK in 2023. 

Speaker: UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), 'The Links between Climate Change and National Security Issues: Organised Crime', online, 17 November 2024.
Presentation on the nexus between crime and climate change, including issues affecting both the nature of the threat and the response, in the UK and internationally.

Speaker: Bureau of International Organisation Affairs, Office of Sanctions and Counterterrorism, US Department of State, 'UN Sanctions - Speaker Series', 29 September 2023
Presentation on the challenges facing UN sanctions enforcement in the context of weak governance, recalcitrant leadership and political disagreement within the UN Security Council, with a focus on organised crime-based sanctions.

Speaker: Seafish, Selfish Common Language Group, 'Seafood Winners and Losers in a Warming World: What the Science is Telling us so Far', 26 September 2023
Presentation of results of RUSI global horizon scan on the impacts of climate change on patterns of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing over the next 10 years and beyond.

Speaker: The Pew Charitable Trusts, 'Future IUU Fishing Trends in a Warming World: A Global Horizon Scan', 7 September 2023
Presentation of results of RUSI global horizon scan on the impacts of climate change on patterns of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing over the next 10 years and beyond.

Speaker: 24 Hour Conference on Global Organised Crime, 'Targeted sanctions and organized crime: An examination of the current state of knowledge on implementation and impact', 13 October 2022
Presentation of research on the use and effectiveness of targeted financial sanctions to disrupt organised crime, with a focus on two case studies: Colombia and Libya. 

Speaker: RUSI virtual expert workshop, 'Sanctions and Transnational Organised Crime', 13 January 2022
Presentation of preliminary findings of research on sanctions and organised crime, inviting expert feedback as a validation exercise to strengthen the rigour of the research.

Speaker: G7, 'G7 Interior and Security Ministers: Crimes that Affect the Environment', 'Money Laundering Risks in Illegal Wildlife Trade', 8 December 2021
Presentation of research to respond to proposed actions in the 2020 Financial Action Task Force report 'Money Laundering and the Illegal Wildlife Trade', following direction from leaders in the G7 2030 Nature Compact.

Speaker: UNODC, Thematic Discussions of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) on the Implementation of the Kyoto Declaration, 'Addressing the Economic Dimension of Crime', 11 November 2021
Presentation of research on the role and effectiveness of targeted financial sanctions to disrupt crime at the first inter-sessional discussion to follow up on the implementation of the Kyoto Declaration adopted at the 14th UN Crime Congress in March 2021.

Lecturer: Royal College of Defence Studies, The Future Strategic Context Programme, 'Transnational Organised Crime and Drugs', 8 November 2021
Lecture on the dynamics, scale and threat posed by transnational organised crime to 100+ students of over 50 nationalities at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

Speaker: RUSI, Illegal Wildlife Trade in the UK: London Working Group, 'Responding to the Threat: Legislation and Enforcement', 29 October 2021
Presentation of findings from Home Office-funded research into the impact of IWT-linked illicit finance on the UK and the strengths and weaknesses of the UK's response.

Chair: Global Counterterrorism Forum, Expert Meeting on the Criminal Justice Responses to the Linkages between Terrorism, the Financing of Terrorism, Corruption and Other Financial Crimes, 'Case Studies: Criminal Justice Responses to the Nexus', London, 29 October 2019
Discussion of practical examples from Kenya, among other countries, of criminal justice responses to the linkages between terrorism, corruption and other financial crimes.
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Speaker: Security Institute, Annual Conference, 'Environmental Crime: Scope, Scale and Implications for Sustainable Security', London, 24 October 2018
Presentation on the threat posed by environmental crime to the concept of sustainable security, with a focus on wildlife trafficking and illegal fishing on a global scale.

Speaker: London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, 'Corruption and Illegal Wildlife Trade: How to Tackle It', London, 11 October 2018
Presentation on the role that corruption plays as enabler of transnational, organised wildlife trafficking, as part of panel organised by the Wildlife Justice Commission.

Speaker: EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 'Strengthening the Evidence Base on the Role of Small Parcels in Illicit Trade', Alicante, 28 September 2018
Summary of research on the exploitation of postal and delivery services to facilitate illicit trade in tobacco in Europe, covering vulnerabilities, responses and recommendations.

Speaker: European Parliament, 'Organised Crime and Excise Fraud: The Illicit Cigarette Market in the EU', Brussels, 4 September 2018
Outline of research into the exploitation of the internet and postal services to facilitate the illicit cigarette trade across three European countries: the UK, France and Germany.

Speaker: Oxford Economics, 'Combatting Illicit Trade: What Influences Consumer Behaviours?', London, 27 June 2018
Presentation of recent research into the drivers of illicit trade, covering consumer demand and social acceptability as key facilitators of illicit trade in tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals across Europe.
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Facilitator: Wilton Park, 'Tacklling Illegal Wildlife Trade: Strengthening Transnational Cooperation - Building Alliances: Practical Steps Forward', Steyning, 14 June 2018
​Joint facilitator and rapporteur for the break-out session 'Building Alliances: Practical Steps Forward', covering challenges and opportunities in building collaborative frameworks to combat IWT.

Chair: British Embassy, Berlin, ‘Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade: A Stocktake Ahead of the London Conference’, Berlin, 5 June 2018
Discussion of the challenges and opportunities present to combat illegal wildlife trade in the run up to the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in October 2018.

Speaker: UNODC, 'Illegal Ivory Trade, Financial Flows and Terrorism Financing', UNODC Expert Group Meeting on Illicit Financial Flows related to Wildlife Crime', Vienna, 4 May 2018
Presentation on the money flows linked to the illegal ivory trade in East Africa and their beneficiaries, to feed into a broader project to estimate the size of the illegal market.

Speaker: Chatham House, 'Following the Money: Finance and IUU Fishing', Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 11th International Forum, London, 3 May 2018
Presentation on the financial dimensions of IUU fishing, covering the need to engage the private sector in responses that go beyond the arrest of illegal fishers and captains, through efforts to follow the money generated.

​Chair: Chatham House, 'Following the Money: The Role of Banks and Financial Institutions', 'Following the Money: Credit Lending and Investment', and 'Following the Money: Insurance', Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 11th International Forum, London, 3 May 2018
Chair of 3-part session addressing the role of credit lending and investment, insurance, banking and financial services in eliminating IUU fishing practices worldwide.

Speaker: CT MORSE, 'Countering the Finance of Terrorism in the East Africa Region: Facts and Myths', Countering the Finance of Terrorism in East Africa: Sharing of Good Practices. Side Event on the Margins of the Capacity Building in the East Africa Region Working Group, Cairo, 16 April 2018
Presentation on the extent of the evidence that Al-Shabaab relies on ivory as a core revenue stream,  in the context of the organisation's broader fundraising activities.

Speaker: WWF, 'IWT and Corruption', WWF Anti-Environmental Corruption Workshop, Hong Kong, 9 April 2018
Presentation of research conducted into both illicit financial flows and corruption associated with wildlife trafficking in East Africa, with a focus on the ways in which NGOs can contribute to anti-corruption goals.

Speaker: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 'Corruption and Wildlife Trafficking: The Case of East Africa', 6th Meeting of the Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade, Paris, 15 March 2018
Presentation of primary research conducted over 2017 into corruption as an enabler of wildlife crime in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, covering key findings on corruption risks across the early stages of the wildlife trafficking supply chain.

Speaker: University of Kent, 'Wildlife Crime: Following the Money', Canterbury, 15 January 2018
Lecture to students on the MSc Conservation and International Wildlife Trade course on research conducted into the use of financial approaches in response to wildlife crime in East Africa.

Speaker: European Union, 9th Research Conference on Organised Crime: Preventing Organised Crime - European Approaches and Responses in Policy and Practice, 23-24 October 2017
Host of EU-funded 9th Research Conference on Organised Crime, organised in collaboration with the UK Home Office and German Bundeskriminalamt (BKA).

Speaker: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 'Following the Money: Financial Investigation as a Response to Illegal Wildlife Trade', London, 12 September 2017
Presentation on research and lessons learned from the provision of training in the use of financial investigation tools in response to wildlife crime in East Africa over the course of 2017.

Chair: RUSI Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research Workshop Series 2017, 'Serious and Organised Crime: The Threat to the UK and Our Strategic Response', London, 20 July 2017
Chaired a private workshop undertaken as the UK government undertakes its review of the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. The workshop aimed to draw on research conducted over the last four years to identify trends in the evolving threat and best practice in approaches to tackling it. 

Speaker: Seafish, ‘Out of Sight: Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing as a Security Issue’, Seafood Ethics Common Language Group Meeting, London, 11 July 2017
Presentation on the security dimensions of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing to an audience of primarily industry representatives. Particular focus on the links with human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Speaker: European Consortium for Political Research, ‘Grey Areas in Environmental Crime: Bringing the Debate Forwards’, 2nd General Conference: ECPR Standing Group on Organised Crime, Bath, 7 July 2017
Outlined research on a major gap in research on environmental crime, concerning the financial flows associated with this particular crime type. Focus on the capacity gaps in many affected countries across the supply chain around financial investigation.

Speaker: American–Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, ‘On Tap Europe: Illicit Trade in Tobacco, Alcohol and Pharmaceuticals’, 3rd Intellectual Property Rights Conference, Athens, 6 July 2017
Presentation of recent research on the organised crime dynamics underpinning illicit trade in tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals in five EU countries: Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain. The presentation touched on the groups, routes and methods involved across each case study.

Speaker: European Commission, ‘Conservation, Development and Security: Implementing the External Dimension of EU Biodiversity Policies’, DEVCO Environment Week 2017, ‘The Wildlife Conservation–Security Nexus’, Brussels, 9 February 2017
Presented research conducted on the wildlife crime - security nexus, highlighting the need for analyses of this nexus to be evidence based and proportionate. Particular attention paid to the threat posed by organised crime and corruption across the supply chain.

Speaker: King’s College London, ‘Environmental Crime in East Africa’, lecture to War Studies Master’s students, London, 28 October 2016
An overview of research conducted to date on the particular environmental crime problems facing East Africa, with a particular focus on Kenya. A case study elaborated the issues around linking terrorism to ivory trafficking, in East Africa and beyond. 

Speaker: University College London, Organised Crime Research Network, ‘Wildlife Trafficking and its Security Implications’, London, 10 October 2016
Lecture examining the security dimensions of poaching and wildlife trafficking across sub-Saharan Africa, facilitating audience participation and exercises. The focus was extended in Part 2 to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and charcoal smuggling, with a focus on Somalia. 

Speaker: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, 3rd APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting, ‘Strengthening the Fight Against Corruption and Illicit Trade’, Lima, Peru, 16 August 2016
Presentation stressing the need to strengthen capacity to conduct financial investigation in the fight against wildlife trafficking, to ensure that law-enforcement efforts do not stop at the seizure of wildlife products. Emphasis was placed on the issues of capacity, political will and legislation.

Speaker: European Commission DG DEVCO, Cocaine Route Monitoring and Support Project Steering Committee Meeting, ‘IWT as Transnational Organised Crime’, Brussels, 13 April 2016
Introductory presentation to drugs-focused law-enforcement officers on the issue of poaching and wildlife trafficking, as well as the extent of links to drugs trafficking. The existence of common facilitators was emphasised, with a particular focus on corruption across overlapping supply chains.

Speaker: King’s College London, ‘Terrorism, Conflict and Environment in the Horn of Africa’, lecture to War Studies Master’s students, London, 16 February 2016
Lecture examining the security dimensions of poaching and wildlife trafficking across the Horn of Africa, encouraging audience participation and running classroom-based exercises. The intersections between wildlife crime and conflict were debated, using case studies from the region.

Speaker: King’s College London, ‘Poaching, Charcoal Smuggling and Piracy’, lecture to War Studies Master’s students, London, 16 February 2016
Lecture focusing on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and charcoal smuggling in Somalia, from the historic development of the issues to their current status today. A series of responses and potential solutions were discussed and debated.

Speaker: King’s College London, Marjan Centre Pop-Up Wonkathon, 'Conservation and the Illegal Wildlife Trade in Conflict Areas', London, 4 November 2015
Presented RUSI Occasional Paper on the evidence linking ivory trafficking to Al-Shabaab. Outlined in detail the strengths and weaknesses of existing research and analysis on the issue, whilst elaborating the portfolio of other funding sources available to the terrorist organisation.

Speaker: EU Member States Annual Meeting on UN Security Council Resolution 1325, ‘Countering Violent Extremism with Somali Women’, Brussels, 26 June 2015
Presentation discussing recent research on the roles played by women in radicalisation in Somalia. Emphasis was placed on the flaws associated with the most common narratives surrounding the issue, particularly those casting women as 'peacemakers'.

Chair: Royal United Services Institute, 'Whitehall Paper Launch: Security Sierra Leone 1997-2013: Defence, Diplomacy and Development in Action', London, 21 May 2015
Chaired a discussion on security-sector reform for the launch of 'Securing Sierra Leone 1997-2013', involving the authors, Peter Albrecht and Paul Jackson, and Keith Biddle OBE, former Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, among other speakers. ​

RECORDED MEDIA AND EVENTS

Video Commentary: Interrogating Corruption Risk in Voluntary Carbon Markets, May 2024
Commentary accompanying launch of new GI-ACE project analysing anti-corruption evidence in relation to trading in voluntary carbon markets and the implications for climate security.
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Video Commentary: IWT in Uganda: Following the Financial Footprints, 5 October 2021
Commentary accompanying release of ‘Illegal Wildlife Trade in Uganda: Tracking Progress on “Following the Money”’ - the most in-depth independent study of Uganda’s response to wildlife-linked illicit finance. 
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Speaker: SafeSeas, 'Blue Crimes: Rethinking the Maritime Security Agenda', 10 September 2020
Discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the term ‘blue crime’, including the extent to which the concept recognises the diverse nature of maritime crime and provides a basis for an integrated response.
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'The Wildlife Trafficking-Security Nexus: Targeting the Organised Crime Threat', RUSI Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research, 10 October 2018
Speaker on panel chaired by Lord Hague of Richmond on research and practical measures to disrupt the criminal dynamics driving transnational wildlife trafficking.

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London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, 'IWT As A Serious Organised Crime: "Follow the Money" - Tackling Illicit Financial Flows associated with the Illegal Wildlife Trade', 12 October 2018
Moderator of DfID panel session at the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade on the use of financial tools to disrupt illegal wildlife trade.

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The Illicit Cigarette Trade in Europe,
BBC World, 5 July 2017
Interview with BBC world on the findings of Project SUN, an annual study that examines the scale and scope of the illicit cigarette trade across the EU, Norway and Switzerland.

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Cathy Haenlein talks to Newshour, BBC World Service, 13:06, 22 June 2019, on saiko fishing in Ghana
Analysis to accompany release of Environmental Justice Foundation report 'Stolen at Sea: How Illegal 'Saiko' Fishing is Fuelling the Collapse of Ghana's Fisheries'. 

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Human Trafficking and Illicit Cigarette Trade: Global Consequences, RESPECT International Webinar Series 2018, 17 May 2018
Participation in RESPECT webinar series 'The Human Trafficking-Organized Crime Nexus: Intersections, Vulnerabilities, and Analysis for the Private Sector', providing an introduction to the illicit cigarette trade in Europe.

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Launch Event: Whitehall Paper, ‘Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security in Africa: Myths and Realities’, 12 January 2017
Lord William Hague chairs the launch of RUSI's landmark study exploring the nexus between poaching, wildlife trafficking and security.

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Poaching, Wildlife Trafficking and Security - Insight, Animal Poaching, Part I, TRT World, 13 January 2017
Interview with TRT World to discuss research on poaching and wildlife trafficking as threats to security. 

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Launch: Occasional Paper, ‘Below the Surface: How Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Threatens Our Security’, 18 July 2017
Presentation of the findings of a new RUSI Occasional Paper, which argues that large-scale illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing must be recognised as transnational organised crime. 

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Launch: Occasional Paper, ‘Follow the Money: The Use of Financial Investigation in Countering Wildlife Trafficking’, 11 September 2017
Presentation of findings of RUSI Occasional Paper on the need for increased focus on the financial dimensions of wildlife crime and the disruption of the financial networks of perpetrators.

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An Illusion of Complicity: Interview on ivory trafficking and terrorism, CNN, 24 September 2015
Discussion of research regarding the lack of evidence behind the allegedly close link between ivory trafficking and the financing of terror group Al-Shabaab.

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British Troops Arrive in Somalia to Fight Terrorism, Radio France Internationale, 2 May 2016
A British Army team has arrived in Somalia as part of a UN-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to counter Islamist militants. Commentary on the nature of the deployment and its likely impact.

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Somali, African Union Forces Face Resurgent Al-Shabab, Voice of America, 28 April 2016
Discussion of research on the effectiveness of peacekeeping under the African Union Mission in Somalia.