Tom Gray

Tom is a technical biodiversity specialist with over 15 years’ experience in nature-focused design, strategy and advisory work. He acts to deliver inclusive projects that protect and restore ecosystems at all scales, and benefit society through ensuring equitable access to nature.

He began his career as a field-based ecologist before spending 11 years at Arup, where he developed expertise in influencing architects and design teams to integrate biodiversity and natural processes into designs on a range of public and private sector projects. This includes major infrastructure and building projects, urban regeneration, Biodiversity Net Gain, and developing local/national planning policies. He input on several award-winning projects, including Madinat al Irfan in Oman, and Wild West End in London. He also led on relationship management and partnership development, and represented his company and industry at COP15 in Montreal, presenting on regenerative design approaches that maximise nature/carbon/social benefits.

Tom is a Chartered Environmentalist through the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management; a group he has supported on their national Advisory Forum and England Policy Groups, alongside input on several other industry bodies. Tom worked as an independent advisor in 2023/24, guiding clients to understand their impacts/dependencies on biodiversity, and to deliver nature-positive business/design strategies, before joining the BBC as Nature Strategy Lead.