Conservation charity strengthens leadership team as strong financial position enables major expansion in response to critical invertebrate decline.
Buglife, the invertebrate conservation charity, has appointed Christie Gregg as Co-leader and Director of Transformation, marking a pivotal moment as the organisation prepares for significant growth in its conservation delivery at a time of accelerating biodiversity crisis.
The appointment comes as Buglife prepares strong end of year accounts and as new data reveals the scale of the invertebrate emergency facing the UK. The charity’s Bugs Matter citizen science survey suggests flying insect numbers have declined by 59% between 2021 and 2025, with pollinators, decomposers and the invertebrates that form the foundation of food chains disappearing at alarming rates.
Invertebrates underpin life on Earth. They pollinate three quarters of food crops, recycle nutrients, control pests, and feed birds, fish and mammals. Without them, ecosystems collapse. The decline threatens not only biodiversity but food security, with pollination services alone valued at over £600 million annually to UK agriculture.
Christie, who is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, brings 18 years of transformation and sustainability leadership from IKEA, where she led teams of up to 600 people and developed the organisation’s transformation roadmap to 2028. As an IKEA Foundation Ambassador for ten years, she built expertise in delivering commercial performance alongside environmental impact, proving that transformation strengthens rather than compromises mission focus.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Christie served as strategic advisor to the Stormont Executive, navigating complex stakeholder engagement across Northern Ireland. Her academic background in Archaeology and Palaeoecology from Queen’s University Belfast sparked a lifelong commitment to conservation, making this appointment a return to foundational values.
Christie Gregg said: “Invertebrates are the foundation of healthy ecosystems, yet their rapid decline often goes unnoticed. I was drawn to Buglife because the work is both joyful and urgent, practical conservation that makes a real difference. This is a pivotal moment for the organisation, with the financial strength and strategic ambition to significantly scale our impact. I’m excited to help build the organisational capability that will enable Buglife to reverse invertebrate decline and restore the ecosystems they sustain.”
Craig Macadam, Co-Leader and Director of Conservation at Buglife, said: “I am delighted to welcome Christie to our leadership team. At a moment when the scale of our ambitions calls for bold thinking and decisive action, having someone of Christie’s calibre alongside us is exactly the kind of impetus we need. We are committed to doing more for invertebrates, reaching further, delivering greater results, and ensuring that everything we do translates into real, lasting impact for invertebrates and their habitats.”
Sarah Dawkins, Chair of Buglife’s Board of Trustees, said: “We are delighted to welcome Christie as our Director of Transformation. Her people-focused leadership, transformation skills and connection to our mission shone through at interview and we look forward to working with her. Invertebrates may be small, but our mission is huge and essential. The Trustees’ are determined to amplify Buglife’s impact and are confident that Christie’s fresh perspective alongside our dedicated team is the start of an exciting era for our charity.”
The newly created Co-Leader and Director of Transformation role reflects Buglife’s commitment to matching the scale and urgency of the biodiversity crisis. Christie will work with Craig Macadam, Co-Leader and Director of Conservation, to reimagine Buglife’s business model for greater impact; with a focus on strengthening operational systems, diversifying income and building strategic partnerships. All which will enable Buglife to dramatically scale its conservation delivery across the UK and further afield.
With invertebrate populations in freefall and urgent action needed to reverse catastrophic declines, Buglife’s expansion represents a critical response. The appointment signals the charity’s determination to dramatically scale its impact through strengthened organisational capacity, innovative conservation approaches, and enhanced delivery capability at precisely the moment when invertebrates and the ecosystems they sustain need it most.