Brits in the Big Apple

Alex Halliday is the Director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Founding Dean of the new Columbia Climate School. He joined Columbia in April 2018, after spending more than a decade at the University of Oxford, during which time he was dean of science and engineering.

With over 400 published research papers, Halliday has been a pioneer in developing mass spectrometry to measure small isotopic variations in everything from meteorites to seawater to living organisms, helping to shed light on the birth and early development of our solar system, the interior workings of the Earth, and the processes that affect Earth’s surface environment.

His scientific achievements have been recognized through numerous awards, including the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society, the Bowen Award and Hess Medal of the American Geophysical Union, the Urey Medal of the European Association of Geochemistry, the Oxburgh Medal of the Institute of Measurement and Control, and a Knighthood for services to science and innovation. He is a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Society and an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Halliday has helped to lead a variety of distinguished scientific societies and advisory panels. He is the former Vice President of the Royal Society and former President of the Geochemical Society, the European Association of Geochemistry, and the Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology Section of the American Geophysical Union. He has served as an external board member for Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council, the Max Planck Society, London’s Natural History Museum, the American Geophysical Union, and more.

As a professor in Columbia’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Halliday divides his time between Columbia’s Morningside campus and his isotope geochemistry lab at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The main focus of his current activities is establishing the Columbia Climate School, a major new initiative in transdisciplinary research, education and societal engagement, focused on climate and related sustainability issues.

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Robbie Earle serves as a studio analyst of NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage including Premier League Live, NBC Sports Group’s pre- and post-match show. He is a former Jamaican national team player and Premier League star, playing in more than 600 league games and scoring approximately 150 goals.  He began his professional career with Port Vale (1982-1991) and signed with Wimbledon in 1991. Although born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England, Earle was eligible to play for the Jamaican National Team (1997-2000) due to his heritage.  He was captain of the squad for two years and in 33 international caps, he scored a total of eight goals, including Jamaica’s first-ever World Cup Finals goal versus Croatia in 1998. Earle was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1999. Earle was named Wimbledon Player of the Decade in 2000. He has served as an Honorary Patron of Show Racism the Red Card, the campaign that uses footballers to educate against racism.

Robbie Mustoe is an NBC Sports Soccer Analyst. He is a former professional player in England, starting at hometown club Oxford United before moving to Middlesbrough for 12 years, then completing short stints at Charlton Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday. He saw 3 promotions to the Premier League and appeared in 3 Wembley Cup Finals with Middlesbrough. Robbie Mustoe played an impressive 600 professional games in his 18 year career. He then moved to the US in 2006 to coach at Bentley College and then Boston College, before starting a broadcast career with ESPN in 2008. There, he worked on the 2010 World Cup, the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine and several Champion’s League Finals before moving to NBC to cover the Premier League in 2013.

Together, Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe co-host The 2 Robbies podcast.

Luke Parker Bowles is CEO of Cinema Lab; a movie theatre development and management  company, who believes the theatrical experience is important, purely because it is the best  way to share movies and creates a sense of community and empathy. They are opening  community-based, technology-forward, ecologically-conscious movie theatres that lead the  way in hospitality, programming, presentation, design and cater our guests with expanded  hot and cold menu options and adult beverages.

Additionally, Luke serves as CEO of Odd Sausage LLC – an East Coast -based Film,  Television and Video production company committed to acquiring, developing, and  producing multi-platform premium content through unique access to quality material. Odd  Sausage combines strong creative relationships and an executive team that has produced  award winning and commercially successful films.

Productions include Starz’s OUTLANDER and Focus Features EVENING and the recent  FEATURE thriller EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE. On the Video side, clients include TED, UPS, UBS, Logitech, British Airways, Transferwise and many others.

Parker Bowles previously served as Executive Vice President of Production for Open Road  Integrated Media, a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road  publishes and markets eBooks from authors including Pat Conroy, William Styron, Alice Walker, James Jones, and Pearl S. Buck. At Open Road, he created and oversaw the Digital  Entertainment division, which created short documentary film pieces about its authors in  order to market their eBooks. He managed a worldwide team of filmmakers who  interviewed Open Road authors and their families, colleagues, and friends.

Hailing from London, Parker Bowles began his film-industry career at International Creative  Management (ICM) London in 1999 after obtaining his degree from the University of  London. An established film industry executive in both the United Kingdom and the United  States, Parker Bowles has developed and managed a diverse slate of films for both major studios and independent film companies, including Working Title Films, Hart Sharp  Entertainment, and Sharp Independent at HarperCollins.

Parker Bowles joined Working Title Films’ creative department in 2001. There, he was  involved in the development of hit films such as Chris and Paul Weitz’s About a Boy, Beeban  Kidron’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and Richard Curtis’s Love Actually. In the fall of 2003, Parker Bowles moved to New York and began working in the  independent film world at Hart Sharp Entertainment.

Parker Bowles served as Chairman of BAFTA in New York and is a Director and Founder of the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in New York and The Montclair Film Festival. He is also a  member of both the Pilgrims Society and the St. George’s Society. He was awarded the  inaugural Leadership Award by the St. George’s Society in 2017 for his work in bringing Britains and Americans closer together and for his work with non-profits, including Comic Relief, of which he is a Senior Ambassador and has raised more money than any other single  individual in America for the charity.

In addition to attending the University of London, Parker Bowles studied at Yale University  and Carnegie Mellon University.

Zain Ejiofor Asher was born to first-generation Nigerian parents in South London. A graduate of Oxford University and Columbia University, she is currently an anchor for CNN International. She anchors One World with Zain Asher, her own global news program on the network. Ejiofor Asher’s brothers are Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave), successful entrepreneur Obinze, and medical doctor Kandibe. She lives in the New York area with her husband and two sons.

Twitter @zainasher

IG: @zainashercnn

Vanessa O’Brien is an American mountaineer and a British mountaineer (as a result of her dual nationality), explorer, public speaker and former business executive. Vanessa was named Explorer of the Year in 2018 by the Scientific Exploration Society. She is one of only eight women to achieve the Explorers Grand Slam, having summited the highest peak on every continent and skied the last degree to the North and South Poles in eleven months.

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Born in Luton to a Bangladeshi family, Nadiya has been baking for 10 years. She now lives in Milton Keynes with her husband and three children.

After wondering why her father only served ice cream for dessert at his restaurant, as desserts aren’t a big feature of mealtimes in Bangladesh, Nadiya was encouraged by a school home economics teacher to develop her skills and now delivers beautiful masterpieces at family occasions. She won the Great British Bake Off in 2015 and released her first book 'Nadiya's Kitchen' in 2016. She has now released17 books including six best-selling cookbooks, which have sold nearly 1.5 million copies worldwide. Nadiya has won several awards including Best Presenter at the Women and Television Film Awards, and Personality of the Year at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. Nadiya has been named as one of the 500 most influential people in the UK.

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Will Beckett is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hawksmoor.  Having set up the first restaurant in 2006 with best friend Huw Gott, the pair have grown the business into one of the most admired restaurant brands in the UK.  With restaurants in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and New York, Hawksmoor has a reputation as one of the best steak restaurants in the world.  Hawksmoor has been ranked amongst the best companies to work for by Best Companies for 10 years in a row, and amongst the most sustainable restaurant groups by the Sustainable Restaurant Association for 12 years in a row.  As of late 2021 Hawksmoor is a carbon neutral company.

Will is also Chairman of Rockfish, another sustainability-focussed restaurant group in the South West of England, is on the City Harvest Food Council, and is a founding trustee of A Good Dinner, a charity he helped set up to connect charities working to alleviate food and water poverty in the UK and abroad with potential fundraisers and donors in the Hospitality Industry.

Spencer Matthews is a British entrepreneur and founder of the premium no-and-low (No/Low) adult beverage company, CleanCo.

With a desire to moderate his alcohol intake in 2018, Matthews discovered there were no options in the market that could match the taste and mouthfeel of full-strength spirits in a mixed drink. For many years, there had been two main options - full-strength alcohol or soft drinks - and little in-between. He discovered that a great tasting like-for-like alternative simply didn’t exist.

This was the catalyst that spurred him to found CleanCo and create a product that filled the gap in the market for a comparable and enjoyable experience to real spirits. CleanCo launched in the UK in late 2019 with gin alternative Clean G, followed by rum replacement Clean R in May 2020.

Offering finely crafted alternatives to some of our favourite tipples, the CleanCo range offers award winning Clean G, Clean R and Clean G Rhubarb.

Furthermore, vodka replacement; Clean V Spiced Apple Spirit was introduced in March 2021 - shortly followed by a non-alcoholic Tequila replacement; Clean T, in May 2021. The range also includes Individual cans of ready mixed Clean G & Tonic and Clean Cuba Libre at ABV 0.5%.

Matthew’s aim from the beginning was to give cocktail lovers a choice. A choice that will empower consumers to find a balance in order to live life to its full potential. By drinking ‘clean’ during the week, or by interspersing your favourite full-strength cocktail with a Clean replacement when socializing, you can moderate your alcohol intake without feeling like you are missing out.

Finding there was an insatiable thirst for moderation among cocktail drinkers, and with ambitions to become the biggest player in the No/Low sector globally, CleanCo initially secured £2.1 million before raising a further £7m from backers including Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox and board member of Uber, as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Providing consumers with an alternative to traditional cocktails, CleanCo has cultivated a loyal ‘sober-curious’ following since its inception in 2019.

CleanCo made its debut in the US market in September 2021, entering with Clean T, a Tequila alternative. Spurred by the seismic surge in demand for quality alcohol-free alternatives and inspired by the accelerating Tequila category in the United States - Clean T offers an agave forward take on Tequila Blanco. Complementing Clean T, will be an array of No/Low spirit alternatives, Clean G (Gin), Clean R (Dark Rum), and Clean V Spiced Apple (Flavoured Vodka).

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Clare Reichenbach is the chief executive officer of the James Beard Foundation (JBF), the country's preeminent culinary arts organization dedicated to celebrating, nurturing, and honoring chefs and other leaders making America's food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. In her role as CEO, Clare works with the JBF staff and board of trustees in directing the strategic, programmatic, financial, and management operations of the James Beard Foundation.

Clare’s responsibilities include overseeing a wide range of the JBF programs such as the James Beard Foundation Awards; the JBF Women’s Leadership Programs; the James Beard House dinners and events around the United States; the non-profit’s scholarship programs; and the JBF Impact Programs, all in pursuit of a more equitable and sustainable food system.

Before joining the James Beard Foundation, Reichenbach founded CJJR Consulting, where her clients included New York Public Radio, NBCU, and Samsung. Prior to that, Clare worked at the BBC for over 10 years, both in the U.K. and the U.S. where she was executive vice president of strategy and business development, a position she also held at AMC Networks. Her accolades include being named one of CableFAX’s “Most Powerful Women in Cable,” Multichannel News’s “Women to Watch,” and Management Today’s “35 Women Under 35.”

Reichenbach has a bachelor's degree from Oxford University and completed the advanced management program from Harvard Business School. Clare lives in Manhattan with her young daughter.

A prolific concert performer, Andrew has appeared with the Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Sir Simon Rattle; the Orchestre de Paris, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding; the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the ScottishChamber Orchestra with Robin Ticciati; the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, the Orcherstre Métropolitain and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; the Accademia Santa Cecilia with Semyon Bychkov; and the Staatskapelle Berlin with Daniel Barenboim.

Andrew made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Jacquino Fidelio, returning for Flamand Capriccio, Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Tichon Katya Kabanova and Narraboth Salome. He has also appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, the National Theatre Prague; La Monnaie  Brussels; the Salzburger Festspiele; Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, the Lucerne Festival and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.