Stephen Metcalfe MP and Chi Onwurah MP Carol Monaghan MP and Layla Moran MP welcome you to

Parliamentary Links Day 2021 Science and Climate Change

Organised by the Royal Society of Biology

on behalf of the science and engineering community

#LinksDay21

Programme

Hosting Members

Stephen Metcalfe MP, House of Commons

Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Minister for Science, Research & Digital

Carol Monaghan MP, House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee

Layla Moran MP, House of Commons

Parliamentary Welcome

Rt Hon Dame MP, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons

Speakers

Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, COP26 President Designate

Katherine Fletcher MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the COP26 President Designate

Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Minister for Science, Research & Digital

Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Chair, House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee

Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser

Panellists

Professor Sir Adrian Smith, President, Royal Society

Monica Dean, Senior Expert Advisor, United States Department of State

Sunan Jiang, Minister Counsellor for Science & Technology, Chinese Embassy in the UK

#LinksDay21 Stephen Metcalfe MP

Former Chair of the Commons Science & Technology Select Committee

Constituency: South Basildon and East Thurrock Party: Conservative

Stephen has been Member of Parliament for South Basildon and East Thurrock since 2010.

He is Chair of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, which is Parliament’s oldest and longest-serving All Party Parliamentary Group and is a major focus for the discussion and debate of scientific and technological issues.

Stephen is the immediate past Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee and is passionate about promoting science, technology and engineering in his constituency. He has also campaigned for many years to protect green spaces from over-development.

A former local councillor, Stephen is a trustee of Age Concern Basildon, President of Northlands Park Community Association, Patron of the Basildon Education Services Trust and local Karate club, Maru Karate Kai.

You can follow Stephen on Twitter @Metcalfe_SBE

Chi Onwurah MP

Shadow Minister for Science, Research & Digital

Constituency: Central Party: Labour

Chi was elected as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central in 2010. After a degree in electrical engineering in 1987, Chi worked in hardware and software development, product management, market development and strategy for a variety of predominately private sector companies in a number of different countries. During this time Chi also studied for an MBA and gained Chartered Engineering status.

Chi has previously been a shadow minister in the cabinet office and for business, innovation and skills. Since October 2016 Chi is a Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and since April 2020 Chi has also been Shadow Minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

You can follow Chi on Twitter @ChiOnwurah

#LinksDay21 Carol Monaghan MP

Member of the House of Commons

Constituency: Glasgow North West Party: Scottish National

Carol was elected as a Member of Parliament in the general election in 2015. She has been on the Science and Technology committee since July 2015. Carol is currently Shadow SNP Westminster Group Leader (Public Services and Education), an opposition position she has held since May 2015.

Carol studied at Strathclyde University, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in laser physics and optoelectronics in 1993. She trained as a teacher, gaining a PGCE in physics and maths and has worked in many Glasgow comprehensive schools, including 14 years at Hyndland Secondary School as head of physics and head of science.

Carol has been a member of the SNP since 2007 and said the Scottish referendum result gave her the drive to pursue politics.

Follow Carol on Twitter @CMonaghanMP

Layla Moran MP

Liberal Democrats’ Foreign Affairs Spokesperson

Constituency: Oxford West and Abingdon Party: Liberal Democrats

Layla has been the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon since 2017 and was re-elected two years later in 2019. She is also the Liberal Democrats’ Foreign Affairs Spokesperson. Layla was previously Education Spokesperson an issue that she is deeply passionate about as a former teacher.

She read physics at Imperial College and holds an MA in comparative education. Before entering Parliament, Layla was a physics and maths teacher by profession with over 10 years’ experience, and was the youngest Head of Year in her school’s history and went on to lead curriculum development.

She advocates evidence-based solutions to environmental issues like flooding and is a strong supporter of science innovation and investment.

You can follow Layla on Twitter @LaylaMoran

#LinksDay21 Rt Hon Dame Eleanor Laing MP

Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons

Constituency: Epping Forest Party: Conservative

Dame Eleanor has been the Member of Parliament for Epping Forest since 1997.

Eleanor graduated BA LLB from University. She was the first woman to be elected President of Edinburgh University Union. She has practised law in Edinburgh, in the and in industry.

Having been the Conservative candidate in the safe Labour seat of Paisley North in the 1987 General Election, she became Special Adviser to the Rt Hon John MacGregor MP in 1989 when he was Secretary of State for Education and remained his Special Adviser when he was Leader of the House of Commons (1990-92) and Secretary of State for Transport (1992-94).

Her particular political interests are education, transport, the economy and the constitution.

In February 1999, she was promoted to the post of Opposition Whip and in July 2000 she became a Frontbench Spokesman for Constitutional Affairs.

After the 2001 General Election, she was appointed as Frontbench Spokesman for Education and Skills and in 2003 was made Shadow Minister for Children. In March 2004, she became Shadow Minister for Women. After successfully increasing her majority at the 2005 General Election, she was promoted to be Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and also remained Shadow Minister for Women and Equality. From 2007 - 2010 she was Shadow Minister for Justice. In 2013 she was elected Deputy Speaker and in January 2020 was elected Chairman of Ways and Means.

The constituency of Epping Forest comprises Loughton, Epping, Waltham Abbey, Chigwell, Buckhurst Hill, Theydon Bois, North Weald, the surrounding villages and the ancient Forest itself.

Eleanor became a Privy Counsellor in 2017 and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours on 9th June 2018.

You can follow Eleanor on Twitter @eleanor4epping

#LinksDay21 Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

COP26 President Designate

Constituency: Reading West Party: Conservative

Alok was elected as the Conservative MP for Reading West in May 2010.

He has served as a member of the Commons Treasury select committee, a member of the Commons Science and Technology select committee, a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Treasury and at the Cabinet Office.

From 2012 to 2015 he served as a Conservative Party Vice Chairman. Alok was appointed in 2016 as the Prime Minister's Infrastructure Envoy to India and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from July 2016 to June 2017.

In June 2017, Alok was appointed as Minister of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government with responsibility for housing. In January 2018, he was promoted to Minister of State for Employment, and in July 2019 he was promoted to Secretary of State for International Development. In February 2020, he was again promoted to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

In January 2021, Alok was appointed full-time President for COP26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Prior to entering Parliament, Alok qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, and then worked for 16 years within banking, first with the Japanese firm Nikko Securities and then Enskilda Securities (the investment banking arm of SE Banken), where he held senior roles based out of London, Stockholm and Frankfurt, including serving as a member of the bank's Corporate Finance Global Management Committee.

You can follow Alok on Twitter @AlokSharma_RDG

#LinksDay21 Katherine Fletcher MP

Parliamentary Private Secretary to the COP26 President Designate

Constituency: South Ribble Party: Conservative

Born and raised in Manchester’s Wythenshawe, Katherine was the first in her family to go to university, graduating from University of Nottingham with a biology BSc Hons degree. Before becoming an MP Katherine was running her own small manufacturing business in the Northwest, exporting around the world. Previously she worked in Management and IT Consultancy as well as undertaking several operational, change & strategy leadership roles with LTSB, LBG, the Credit Union Movement, and for a short period she helped with the setup of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

Away from the political and business world, Katherine is a qualified field guide (safari ranger), who has lived and worked in Mpumalanga and Limpopo in South Africa & Mozambique. Her favourite animal is the giraffe and she is most scared of honey badgers.

With a background in science and a deep interest in the environment, Katherine is passionate about nature and improving existing habitats to benefit wildlife, and us all. When time allows, she can be found in either the Lakes, Peak District or North Wales bird watching or mountain biking. Katherine’s love of palaeontology spills into the odd fossil collecting trip.

First elected to represent South Ribble in December 2019, in 2020 Katherine was honoured to have been appointed the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Mozambique. In this role she will be working to strengthen trade and investment relationships with friends on the continent and building mutual opportunities for shared trade.

You can follow Katherine on Twitter @K_Fletcher_MP

#LinksDay21 Rt Hon Greg Clark MP

Chair, House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee

Constituency: Royal Tunbridge Wells Party: Conservative

Greg was elected as the Conservative MP for Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2005 and is the current Chair of the Science and Technology Committee.

Greg was Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2016 to 2019. Earlier ministerial posts included Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities, held between 2014 and 2015.

Born in Middlesbrough, Greg attended the local St Peter's Comprehensive, South Bank. He went on to study economics at Cambridge University and was awarded his PhD at the London School of Economics. Before being elected to Parliament in 2005, he worked for Boston Consulting Group and held posts as the BBC's head of commercial policy and Conservative Party’s director of policy.

You can follow Greg on Twitter @GregClarkMP

#LinksDay21 Sir Patrick Vallance FRS FMedSci FRCP

Government Chief Scientific Adviser

Sir Patrick is Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) and Head of the Government Science and Engineering (GSE) profession. His personal research was in the area of diseases of blood vessels and endothelial biology.

Patrick was President, R&D at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from 2012 until 2017. Prior to this, he was Senior Vice President, Medicines Discovery and Development. He joined the company in May 2006 as head of drug discovery. He was a member of the GSK Board and the Corporate Executive Team. During his period as head of R&D over 14 new medicines were approved for use worldwide, for diseases ranging from cancer to asthma and HIV.

Prior to joining GSK, he was a clinical academic, professor of medicine and led the Division of Medicine at UCL. He has over 20 years’ experience of basic and clinical research, and was a consultant physician in the NHS. His research spanned from work on medicinal chemistry and structural biology, through to cellular work, studies in humans and use of large electronic health record databases.

He was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999 and to the Royal Society in 2017. He was on the Board of the UK Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR) from 2009 to 2016. He is an Honorary Fellow at UCL and holds honorary degrees from Imperial College London, Glasgow University, University of York and St George’s, University of London. He was a non-executive director and board member for UK Biobank and a non-executive board member for Genome Research Limited but stepped down in taking up the GCSA role.

You can follow Sir Patrick on Twitter @uksciencechief

#LinksDay21 Professor Sir Adrian Smith DBE FRS FRSE

President, Royal Society

Professor Sir Adrian is a distinguished statistician, for which he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001. Alongside his outstanding academic record, he has a wealth of experience of working with government and leading world-class research institutes, such as Queen Mary University of London, where he was Principal (1998 - 2008); the University of London, where he was Vice-Chancellor (2012- 18); and The Alan Turing Institute (2018 to present).

As the director and chief executive of the Turing Institute – the national institute for data science and artificial intelligence – he leads an organisation at the forefront of science that is shaping the future.

He has a strong track record of promoting science for the public good, both in his current role at the Turing Institute and when he was director general for knowledge and innovation (2008-12) in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (now BEIS). In his time there, he played an instrumental role in securing a flat cash settlement for science in the 2010 government Comprehensive Spending Review – a major success at a time when most sectors were suffering cuts. It was the start of a process that has seen the government commit to increased investment in UK R&D.

He is a long-time advocate for STEM education and encouraging more girls to study mathematics. He led a 2002-4 inquiry into post-14 maths education, and in 2016-18, led a review of maths teaching for 16 to 18-year-olds, both for the Department for Education.

Monica Dean

Senior Expert Advisor, United States Department of State

Monica is a senior advisor at the United States Department of State supporting the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. Prior to joining the Biden Administration, Monica was a senior manager for energy, climate and environment at the United Nations Foundation overseeing strategic communications with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

She holds a master's in environmental studies from Tel Aviv University.

#LinksDay21 Sunan Jiang

Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology, Chinese Embassy in the UK

Sunan is the Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology at the Chinese Embassy in the UK. He has been dedicated to Science and Technology management and international scientific and technological exchange and cooperation over the years.

From 1994 to 2015, Sunan worked successively as Second Secretary for Science and Technology in the Chinese Embassy in Sweden, Consul for Science and Technology in Chinese Consulate General in Chicago, Consultant in the Department of International Cooperation, Director and then Deputy Director General in the Department of Personnel of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

#LinksDay21