Our Team

Fiona Remnant

Managing Director & Project Manager

Fiona is co-author of the QuIP, founder of Bath SDR and co-founder of Causal Map Ltd

Before moving into evaluation, Fiona's work focused on the application and communication of academic research to practitioners and policymakers - a passion she has taken into the generation and use of evidence in evaluation. She has worked for the Centre for Poverty Analysis in Sri Lanka, Oxfam in the UK, as well as in the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Bath where she worked with James Copestake on the Assessing Rural Transformations action research project, culminating in the development of the QuIP and the creation of Bath SDR. She founded Causal Map Ltd with Steve Powell in 2020 and is a director of that company, as well as a member of the board of the Wavestone Foundation.

Contact: fiona(at)bathsdr.org

Rebekah Avard

Project Manager

Rebekah works with commissioners to design and manage QuIP studies, as well as providing technical support to QuIP associate researchers.

Rebekah holds an MPhil in Education, Globalisation and International Development from the University of Cambridge. She is an experienced QuIP practitioner with top presentation skills and also brings to the team her knowledge and experience in research and communications from her work with various NGOs in Africa, South America and the UK.

Hannah Mishan

Project Manager

Hannah works with commissioners to manage QuIP studies, as well as helping with training and customer support.

Hannah is a specialist user of Causal Map and our go-to expert on this qualitative data analysis software! Before joining BSDR, Hannah studied International Development at both undergraduate and Masters level and has a particular interest in sustainability.

Tabitha Horsfall

Project Manager

Tabitha works with commissioners to design and manage QuIP studies.

Tabitha completed her undergraduate degree in Law and International Relations at the University of the West of England, and her MSc in Social Work at the University of Bristol. Tabitha brings her knowledge and experience of project coordination and capacity building on a number of programmes supporting fragile communities in the UK, and has a particular interest in gender and gender based violence.

Jo Burman

Administration and Events Assistant

Jo supports the Bath SDR team on admin and training events, keeping everything running smoothly in the background.

Jo brings a background in project management and events from the corporate sector and assists in organising the QuIP Lead Evaluator Training, managing our researcher databases, preparing contracts and travel arrangements and other administration.

Steve Powell

Advisor and associate consultant, co-founder of Causal Map Ltd

Steve is an independent evaluator - working with Bath SDR in an advisory capacity, and on the development of CausalMap: www.causalmap.app

Steve has over 20 years' experience in research, training, monitoring and evaluation, as well as communicating the results, in over 30 different countries (mainly SE Europe, S & SE Asia / Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa) on topics from disaster response in Haiti and psychosocial programming after the 2004 tsunami to social capital in the former Soviet Union, biodiversity in West Africa, community resilience in East Africa and counting stray dogs in Sarajevo. He has strong experience in both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and is currently managing Causal Map Ltd full time.

Professor James Copestake

Director

James is chief author of the QuIP, co-founder of Bath SDR, and Professor of International Development at the University of Bath.

James has carried out research, supervised doctoral students and published widely on rural development, development finance (including microfinance), defining and measuring wellbeing and the political economy of development. His research experience spans India, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Andean region. James is Director of Studies for the Professional Doctorate in Policy Research and Practice (DPRP) at the University of Bath, an initiative of the Institute for Policy Research. He is also a member of the board of Opportunity International UK.

James was principal investigator of the Assessing Rural Transformations action research project which generated the first full version of the QuIP and laid the groundwork for the launch of BSDR.

Morten Siersted

Non-Executive Director

Morten is CEO of Excel consultancy firm F1F9 which has worked closely with Bath SDR to develop data analysis solutions.

Morten has set up two other start-up companies, including The Fast Standard Organization which set a new industry standard for financial modelling in Excel.

Morten is a non-executive director of BSDR, particularly supporting financial planning and modelling.

Tony German

Non-Executive Director

Tony was co-founder and Executive Director of Development Initiatives from 1993 - 2015. Tony assists Bath SDR on strategy, engagement & communication.

in 2008 Tony established a not for profit company to work alongside the DI consultancy. From 2015 continued to work as a strategic adviser to DI and undertook a range of other consultancy. In 2020 Tony and Judith Randel are establishing a new organisation, Ideas and Action for Public Good, focusing on poverty, inequality and how society measures value. Tony also runs a smallholding, Old Westbrook Farm Ltd.

Melanie Channon

Non-Executive Director

Mel is a Reader in Social Policy at the University of Bath. By training she is a demographer and social statistician.

Mel has over 15 years of experience researching demographic and global health topics in low and middle income countries. Her research focuses on menstruation, sexual and reproductive health and rights, son preference, gender statistics, and fertility preferences. Much of her research is focussed on Nepal, but she also has experience working across South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. She is currently leading a 5-year UKRI funded project looking at menstrual justice in Nepal and Guatemala. She is also Honorary Secretary of the British Society of Population Studies.