Professor Melanie Smith

Melanie joined Action Oak in March 2026. She has always had a fascination for nature and loves being outdoors. Learning more about the natural world led to a career in research, education and project development, focused on biodiversity restoration, landscape ecology and palaeoecology. She has worked across the UK and on European forestry projects and has experience working with academic, private and charitable organisations, most recently with UHI Inverness and the Atlantic Salmon Trust. She has over 20 years experience in charitable governance with environmental trusts in Scotland, working with people and nature to restore trees and biodiversity at a catchment scale. Walking with the dog in her local woods and oak trees is her favourite thing to do.