Speakers

Environmental scientist, Marten Lewis, left school with no qualifications, disengaged by traditional academia; and his early career began in the Army which was cut short due to a shin injury.  Having gained an electrical engineering BTEC in the military, Marten went on to study Coastal Zone Management as a mature student where hands-on learning connected in ways that school never could.  It was here that Marten’s passion for education and the environment began.  Marten volunteered at the Darwin Centre’s Science Festival, developed a STEM educational programme called The Darwin Experience, offering free activities to schools with a practical learning style.  The programme was rolled out to all schools, over 70, across Pembrokeshire, and thousands participated.  The Darwin Experience is still going strong and in 2025 celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Marten went on to lead The Darwin Centre in Pembrokeshire as executive director; whilst there he studied and achieved a first-class honour bachelor’s degree, then an MSc with a dissertation on the Darwin Experience’s engagement strategy.  As executive director of the Darwin Centre, chairman of the VC Gallery, and trustee of the Nature Foundation, Marten raised over £1 million in private sector funding for education in Pembrokeshire.  Bluestone National Park Resort was a fundraising stakeholder which shared Marten’s values.  In 2019 Bluestone enlisted Marten’s expertise to help realise founder William McNamara’s ambitious targets laid out in 2006 across sustainability in energy, the circular economy, achieving biodiversity, working towards net zero, supporting the local community via its charitable Foundation and helping local supply chains on their own paths to net zero. William McNamara’s ESG ambitions for the resort have since been exceeded manifold and strives to elevate its operations from sustainable tourism to regenerative tourism.

In recognition of the strides that Marten has taken and continues to lead, in implementing founder William McNamara’s early vision at Bluestone National Park Resort, Marten has been named a National Future Generations Changemaker.  He won Wales’s Institute of Directors National Sustainability Director of the Year 2024 and shares best practice among international business communities, including speaking at a UN Global Compact event and presenting to a global audience for the IAAPA.  Marten cites his ethos as being: To use my privileged position, knowledge and empathy, to share and learn; to bring as much value and positive change today, and for future generations.