Team

The RSE is proud to have a dynamic and experienced team committed to driving the organisation’s mission forward to explore, discover and share knowledge.

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Senior leadership team

  • Professor Sarah Skerratt

    Chief Executive

    Sarah is Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

    Sarah is Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). A familiar face to the RSE, having been the Director of Programmes for two years. Prior to this, Sarah was Director of Policy Engagement at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), where she worked for just over two decades. Sarah is Professor of Rural Society and Policy.

    For 30+ years, Sarah has researched rural community resilience, disempowerment, poverty and rural mental health. She has enhanced rural and national policies and made a difference in rural communities via robust data, particularly lived-experienced evidence. Sarah works with Scottish Government task forces, Scottish and UK Parliaments, universities, private, public and third sectors, communities and development agencies in Scotland and internationally. Following a two-year secondment with Audit Scotland, Sarah is retained as their rural adviser, having established their Islands Forum in 2017.

    Sarah’s charity Board appointments have included: Rural Housing Scotland and Scotland’s Regeneration Forum. She was also on the Board of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

  • Karen Sim

    Head of Programmes

    Karen Sim is the Head of Programmes at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. A familiar face to the RSE, having been at the RSE for 11 years, previously managing the public engagement team and the broad programme of activity. Her progression during her time has given her a 360 view of the organisation combined with her dedication. During her time at the RSE she has organised international workshops, led a series of thematic debates during the Scottish independence referendum, streamlined the hybrid approach to the public engagement programme during the Covid-19 pandemic, and provided essential support for the Post Covid Futures Commission.

    Previously, she worked for a charity that empowered people through a programme of educational and vocational activities. It was while at FABB Scotland that she discovered her passion for working in an educational charity, working with like-minded colleagues to achieve a shared mission.

    When she’s not at work, you can often find her running around after her two children, enjoying some fresh air walking the dog or going for a run.

  • Iagan MacNeil

    Head of Communications

    Iagan joined the RSE in September 2022 as Head of Communications having previously worked for a variety of organisations mainly in the public or not-for-profit sectors. His department oversees the RSE’s marketing, social media, media relations and internal communications. A former journalist, his experience has mainly been in media relations and public affairs for organisations such as Smart Energy GB, Historic Scotland, Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, VisitScotland, and Digital UK.

    He is a fluent Gaelic speaker from the Hebrides and a Trustee with the Eilidh MacLeod Memorial Trust which supports youth music education across Scotland. Iagan has also presented some general interest walking series for BBC Alba.

  • Laura Steven

    Director of Finance & Corporate Services

Meet the teams

Our archives tell the stories of Fellows and the Institution from the 18th century to the present. The archive team manages the RSE’s historical records, library, and archive and ensures the organisation has a good system for information and records management that fully complies with all relevant statutory requirements and regulations.

Council

The RSE Council consists of Fellows who are appointed annually by their peers through a competitive election process. It is responsible for setting the Society’s overall governance, policy and strategy.

Meet the Council

Committees and standing groups

  • Standing committees

    The RSE hosts several committees and standing groups that bring together a range of expert and practitioner perspectives to inform and influence…

    Read more

Careers

Discover jobs at the Royal Society of Edinburgh and join the collaborative, committed, and forward-thinking team.