Who we are

Why on Earth should we agitate for urgent change in humanity’s relationship with its ecological life systems?

The purpose of the Climate Ecology Emergency Hub is to argue for change as an imperative, primarily through an approach of ‘artivist’- academic- advocacy; to provoke and promote a plural approach to ecological thinking whilst fully integrating evidence based on scientific research (including, but not exclusive to, the scientific method).

The anchor of the Hub is the concept of the Climate-Ecology Blueprint and its potential applications, whilst the Blueprint’s principles and justifications are explored through a kaleidoscope of epistemologies.

The Climate Ecology Emergency Hub has been co-founded and created by Vanessa and Jasmin, with Paola as our original web designer and Tabitha as our website developer.

Statement of human originality: no generative artificial intelligence(AI) was used in the creation of the writing, drawing and painting of any of this content on this website.

We welcome you to the Climate Ecology Emergency Hub !

Our team

Vanessa(Nessy) Haines-Matos

I have had an extensive career as a British Occupational Therapist specialising in Neuro-rehabilitation in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Within the period my clinical work, I took a sabbatical and embarked on my MSc in Experimental Psychology at the University of Sussex.

I later became involved in climate and ecology activism and, in 2020, was one of the original co-founders in the campaign for the UK Climate & Ecological Emergency Bill – currently, the Climate & Nature Bill – and what was to become its Zero Hour campaign.

I worked as the campaign’s first science coordinator for the CAN Bill’s first and second drafting. This invaluable experience with Zero Hour inspired me to conceive of the idea of a Climate-Ecology Blueprint and, along with Jasmin, the creation of the Climate-Ecology Emergency Hub.

I am currently undertaking my doctorate in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) at the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany whilst working on the BfN-ZEF BioClimSocial Project that focuses on the social dimension of NbS.

I have had the privilege to be a recipient of the Pardicolor Creative Arts Fund award.

I am a passionate advocate for the potent messaging of science through art, having been a lifelong dabbler in drawing and painting – especially, the human form; this has inspired the ‘artivist’ features characteristic of the Hub.

Jasmin Immonen

After living for thirteen years away, I now live in the chilly and often grey coastal area of Helsinki, Finland.

I have researched Peruvian education and pondered questions from race and gender relations to citizenship and land policy. I hold an MA in Medical Anthropology from the University of Sussex, and a PhD in social anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London.

In my latest research engagement at Mecila, Sao Paulo, I worked with artists to discover how art connects us in ways that can give us insights into building trust needed to tackle the planetary crisis.

Paola Soto

Paola is an artist, web and graphic designer, front-end developer, healer and poet. In her art, she seeks to understand and communicate cosmoperceptions that reconnect human beings with their essence, bringing elements and ancestral wisdom from different peoples and cultures around the world.

She designed and developed Climate Ecology Blueprint visual identity and website.

Tabitha Stokes

After working in Malawi training wildlife detection dogs, I returned to Cape Town in 2021 – the city where I completed my MSc in Conservation Biology. I now work as an Artist Coordinator with PARDICOLOR, a creative initiative that collaborates with artists to help protect wildlife, allowing me to connect with inspiring artsci stories from across the world.

I am proud to have contributed to the final touches of the Climate-Emergency hub website.