Mark Christopher Ruskell (born 14 May 1972) is a Scottish Green

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP). He was elected to represent Mid Scotland and Fife from 2003−2007, then elected again in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and re-elected in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. In the Scottish Parliament, Ruskell is the Greens' spokesperson on Climate, Energy, Environment, Food and Farming.

Early life

Mark Ruskell was born on 14 May 1972. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and at Stevenson College, Edinburgh, a further education college in the city. He studied

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

and biology at the University of Stirling, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree, and sustainable agriculture at the Scottish Agricultural College and University of Aberdeen, graduating with a Master of Science (MSc) degree.

Political career

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

he was elected to represent Mid Scotland and Fife. He sat on the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

''Environment and Rural Development Committee'' and served as its Deputy Convenor. He lost his seat in the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

elections. In May 2012 he was elected to represent the Dunblane and Bridge of Allan ward of Stirling Council in the Scottish local elections, the first time the Scottish Green Party has had a representative on the council. He stepped down at the 2017 elections to concentrate on his role as a MSP. His party colleague Alasdair Tollemache replaced him as Councillor for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan at the 2017 poll. His political career has involved fighting numerous campaigns for the Greens including standing in the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

UK Westminster General Elections for Stirling and in every Scottish Parliament election since 1999. In March 2015, the Scottish Greens announced that Ruskell had been selected as the lead candidate for their Mid Scotland and Fife regional list, following a ballot of their members. and was subsequently elected. On 23 May he was announced as the Scottish Greens spokesperson on Climate, Energy, Environment, Food and Farming. He currently sits as a Member of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee.

References

External links

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Councillor Mark Ruskell
at Stirling Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruskell, Mark 1972 births Living people Scottish Green councillors Green MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Stirling Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of Scotland's Rural College Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026