Speaker profile
Ann Barker
Ann Barker has over 25 years of experience in contaminated land investigation and management in both consultancy and local authority regulation. As a geologist, she worked briefly for the British Geological Survey before moving into research and then into practical investigation of environmental pollution issues in consultancy, leading to a focus on land contamination. Having honed her skills in dealing with regeneration of sites as a local authority regulator, the implementation of Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 dominated Ann’s work for several years. During this time, her knowledge was ‘certificated’ when she was awarded Master of Science for Contaminated Land Management with Distinction at Nottingham University. Planning consultations, redevelopment of brownfield sites and strategic regeneration now dominate her workload.
Ann has taken a lead role within YALPAG (Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Pollution Advisory Group, formerly YALPAC), and previously in Environmental Protection UK, to develop consistency in approach to regulation and management of land contamination and raise the profile of land quality work and local authority regulatory issues at local, regional and national level. In 2007 Ann was one of the founders of the Yorkshire Contaminated Land Forum and currently chairs the Steering Group. Ann was also a member of the DEFRA Part 2A Expert Panel and is a judge for the Brownfield Briefing Awards. Working with this wide variety of organisations, Ann has facilitated support networks, initiated training and skills development, and endeavoured to improve communications across the land quality sector.