INTERVIEW | SEPTEMBER 2025
Principal Consultant Jamie Graham is the latest to join 3Keel’s Nature team, part of our Climate, Nature & Resources business unit. Starting in May 2025, Jamie joined 3Keel after six years working at The Biodiversity Consultancy.
Like many, Jamie has always had an interest in wildlife, but at school wasn’t sure where to take this passion. He attained a BSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Bath, then focused more specifically on nature and biodiversity with a Master’s in Biodiversity, Evolution & Conservation from UCL. Since then, he’s been all over the world – applying his skills and knowledge to research projects and behaviour-change programmes as far afield as Honduras, Madagascar and Vietnam – and has put all this to good use in the consultancy space.
Here Jamie runs through the past and present of working in biodiversity, and where he sees things going in future.
Nightjar.
“I studied nightjars during my Master’s. In summer, you get nesting nightjars on Chobham Common. They come out around dusk, so we go late in the evening when no-one’s around.
“Nightjars have a very particular call – a weird churring sound. It’s lovely to hear that sound and instantly feel a connection.”
Working in the field in Madagascar.
“I worked as a research coordinator for SEED, an NGO. We conducted long-term population monitoring of lemurs, reptiles and amphibians in Madagascar’s Saint Luce Reserve. I coordinated the volunteers, the transects and other fieldwork.
“The wildlife is like nowhere else. One morning, an enormous leatherback turtle was brought in. We took care of it while its release was negotiated, before helping it back into the water. I couldn’t believe the size of it!”
Conducting a supply-chain, land-occupancy footprint for a large cosmetics company.
“I remember being really proud of doing this sort of footprint for a company of that size, especially when it was still quite novel in the corporate world. It was exciting in terms of outcomes too because of the impact it could have. The figures from the footprint were being discussed at CEO level.”
Six years at The Biodiversity Consultancy.
“I led projects for clients in tech, agriculture and extractives, working on everything from critical-habitat assessments through to site-based biodiversity risk screening and action plans, supply-chain footprinting, and strategic planning.
“When I left I was a Senior Principal Consultant and the knowledge manager for the organisation, responsible for internal curation and dissemination of technical knowledge among the team.”
“Despite many downward trends, there are some great conservation success stories. Conservation Optimism Summit, for example, showcases conservation wins such as tiger population recovery in India,” says Jamie.
“Also inspiring is the surge in awareness within the private sector of the importance of biodiversity. It’s great that so many more companies are taking this seriously and recognising that a nature strategy isn’t just about doing the ‘right thing,’ but reducing the risk to your company.
“The existence and uptake of frameworks like TNFD and SBTN is fantastic – especially when you consider how they’ve guided and pushed companies towards a better understanding of their impacts on nature and action to alleviate them.
“Given many of our global impacts on nature and biodiversity can be traced back to the private sector, this has been a long time coming.”
Jamie examines a leatherback turtle while working for an NGO in Madagascar.
“The number of people passionate about nature is also exciting,” he continues. “I’m impressed by the dedication and knowledge of my colleagues, who are always striving for a better outcome.
“In Madagascar, people’s commitment to the work was particularly inspiring. Many put their principles above all else in their life. And you could see we were making a difference – you could see the change happening.”
“One of the biggest challenges is addressing impacts embedded within the supply chain,” says Jamie. “At present, most companies don’t have the level of visibility required over their supply chains – the appropriate transparency and traceability.
“They therefore don’t know how to direct their strategy, their targets, their actions in a meaningful way. If they do, many haven’t established the levers of action. There’s lots of work to do. But it’s all doable.
“Conversely, once they’ve established the location of their impacts, there’s a strong precedent for doing detailed site-level work,” Jamie continues.
“I love site-based work – delivering targeted recommendations to a company for a particular site. If a site’s within an area of critical habitat, for instance, what’s the feature triggering this classification? If it’s a species, are there action plans in place? If not, can we develop one? Who’ll do the monitoring? How will we do it?
“If you can answer these types of questions, you can galvanize proper action that makes a real impact.”
Jamie on a site visit in the Caribbean.
“First, you need to be realistic about the scale of the problem. Improving our impact on the natural world is a huge job, one we need to tackle right now,” Jamie says.
“Second, knowing how to get the key decision-makers on board. CEOs have broad mandates.”
“It’s all about communicating the scale of the issue and understanding how to unlock the finance. You could pose it to the senior team as their ‘duty’ to the world. But I’ve found a better angle is to convince them of the importance of nature to their business.”
“There’s certainly good work being done. I can’t name them, but a couple of companies stand out. There are also good examples of large-scale investment from companies in terms of landscape-scale certifications and initiatives, similar to Landscape Enterprise Networks,” says Jamie.
“In terms of where I see things going, it’s about trying to drive as many actors as possible in a positive direction on nature, even if it’s not necessarily about achieving a set goal. At the very least, we need to arrest the downward trends in biodiversity.
“From this point of view, the language and the strategies I’ve seen from some companies are definitely aspiring to this and moving in an encouraging direction.”
“Nature acts as both a carrot and a stick for your company,” says Jamie.
“Declines in nature represent real, material risk to many businesses and their operations. We‘re all dependent to some degree on nature and the services it provides, so unless we stop the downward trend now, many businesses will soon start to feel the impacts.
“Excitingly, there’s also huge scope for opportunities and revenue-generation.”
“To ensure that everything a company does connects to its impacts and dependencies on nature requires joined-up thinking. This is critical, but challenging,” Jamie says.
“Of course, that’s where 3Keel comes in, to guide companies through this and make the most of the frameworks and methodologies on offer.
“From what I’ve seen so far, 3Keel is particularly pragmatic. There’s a synergistic approach to the work we do across teams. Clients might start by understanding their impacts and dependencies with the Climate, Nature & Resources team. They can then connect with the Agriculture & Landscapes team, working in the landscape with the people who are either taking the action or making the decision. It’s a really exciting and very impactful approach,” he continues.
Examining the day-flying urania leilus moth while in Peru.
“I also think the way 3Keel develops long-term relationships with clients is key. It enables greater opportunities to get decision-makers on board and drive positive impact in the long term. It also demonstrates the trust that each client – not just the sustainability team – has in 3Keel delivering.
“What’s really important is understanding the concepts and being able to translate these complex ideas into something meaningful for clients. I think the team here does this really well.”
“I like 3Keel’s mission,” says Jamie. “A few years ago I worked with the Climate, Nature & Resources team on a project in the Faroe Islands, so I was aware of the company. When I saw this role, I messaged Ruth Jenkins, who I worked with in Honduras during my Bachelor’s. Ruth said it’s the best place she’s ever worked – a pretty good endorsement!”
Ruth Jenkins and Jamie Graham working in Honduras while at university.
“What’s really struck me is that 3Keel is very professional. It’s done a great job blending professionalism with having a real mission,” Jamie says. “Without the mission and the type of people it attracts, you wouldn’t have a dedicated-enough team. Together these things are a great combination,” he continues.
“There’s also a wonderful range of experience within 3Keel. People here have worked on all sorts of different things, which marry up across projects. It’s just brilliant. There’s a lovely mix and it’s well connected. This allows you to bring out the best in any project with any client, and adapt specifically to what they need.
“In contrast, I think too many organisations are still taking a more ‘tick-box’ approach, since they don’t fully understand the complex issues at hand. There are some really clever, knowledgeable and dedicated people here, so companies are going to win out if they pick 3Keel.”
If you’d like to find out more about 3Keel’s work in this area, please contact Jamie Graham by calling the office on +44 1865 236500 or by using the form below.
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