Commander Damian Exworthy is a graduate of the University of Leeds where he read Geography and where he also completed an MA in Geographical Information Systems. He joined the Navy in 1995 and has served at sea in aircraft carriers, amphibious ships, frigates and destroyers, and ashore across a variety of operational, support, policy and planning roles. A logistician by training, he served in the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns and well as in operations at sea (Sierra Leone and NATO counter trafficking operations). After attending the Joint Services Command & Staff Course at the Defence Academy, Commander Exworthy’s more recent appointments have been focused on the higher level management of defence area, with three tours in the Ministry of Defence, including as the Private Secretary to the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations), and within the Finance and Military Capability directorate. He also served as a logistics operations and plans officer at the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) with responsibility for the Middle East and EurAsian Theatres. Most recently he has just completed two years as the Commander Logistics in the Navy’s amphibious assault and command & control ship, HMS ALBION, bringing the ship out from an extended refit period and deploying with her to the Asia-Pacific region. As the Hudson Fellow, Commander Exworthy’s research interests are the interaction between geopolitics and energy security, and their implications for maritime forces. Having spent 7 years within various HQ in the M25 (2 in MOD in Whitehall and a further tour at the operational HQ at Northwood), the seminar will focus on Commander Exworthy’s prolific experience with how policy gets formulated.