Skip to main content
Newsletter Sign up newsletter signup
Title Image

Strategic Advisory Board

Leicester has been a global leader in space research for over 60 years

Our Strategic Advisory Board, made up of 10 leading space experts, provides guidance on the vision, strategy, and growth of Space Park Leicester and the Institute for Space. The board advises on objectives, emerging opportunities, and the effective delivery of our world-leading initiatives, ensuring Leicester remains at the forefront of space innovation.

Geraldine Naja

Board Chairperson and Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness at the European Space Agency (ESA)

Geraldine has over 30 years of experience in the European space sector, driving space commercialisation and business development ambitions across the continent.

Professor Richard Ambrosi

Executive Director at Space Park Leicester

Richard is a space instrumentation and nuclear power expert leading Space Park Leicester’s research and has contributed to major international missions and advisory boards since 2000.

Betty Bonnardel-Azzarelli MBE

CEO & Founder of AB5 Consulting

Betty has extensive global experience across high-tech, aerospace, satellite, energy, nuclear, transport, and defence in the public and private sectors.

Dr Joanne Hill-Kittle (known as Joe)

Acting Deputy Center Director for Technology and Research Investments at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Joe oversees new opportunities, R&D investments, and strategic partnerships, advancing mission and instrument development to address key scientific questions.

Marie-Claire Perkinson

Head of Mission and Spacecraft Chief Engineering UK at Airbus Defence and Space

Marie leads the Mission and Spacecraft Chief Engineering department, overseeing system engineering across all project stages for space programmes.

Karen Olsson-Francis

Professor of Geomicrobiology at the Open University and the Director of AstrobiologyOU

Karen’s research blends microbiology and astrobiology to study microbial survival, habitability, and life’s limits through simulations, field sites, and strategic panels like COSPAR.

Joanne Wheeler MBE

Managing Partner at Alden Legal

Joanne is a leading satellite expert with experience at ESA and Ofcom and has over 20 years of experience in private practice.

Nigel Bannister

Deputy Director Professor at Space Park Leicester

Nigel is a space expert, leading Space Park Leicester’s skills and education, with a PhD in astrophysics and a track record in research, teaching, and outreach.

Professor Emma Bunce OBE

Director of the Institute for Space

Emma is the Director of Leicester’s Institute for Space and PI of the MIXS instrument on ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo, exploring planetary magnetospheres and auroras.

Professor Sarah Davies

Pro Vice-Chancellor Head of the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Leicester

Sarah is a geoscientist specialising in sedimentology and Earth system change, leading IODP-ESO expeditions and serving as Pro Vice Chancellor for Science and Engineering.