Episode Details

Today on series two of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar supported by NFU Mutual we begin looking ahead to the 2026 Nuffield Farming Scholarships Conference in Leeds 🎙️ Across this series we’ll hear from scholars who will feature within the conference presentation groups, giving a flavour of the conversations, ideas and experiences set to shape the event 🌍

This first episode focuses on the presentation group “New Pathways for Land, Rivers, Carbon and Nature” with Ali Warren Walker, Laura Underdown, Stu Oates and Ben Andrews 🌱

We spoke about the journeys that brought each of them into agriculture and Nuffield, from commercial science and food systems through to regenerative farming, television, environmental research and flooding resilience. It was fascinating hearing how different backgrounds and industries can all arrive at similar questions around the future of land use and sustainability 🚜

Across the episode we explored everything from fossil free farming and natural capital markets through to waste valorisation, flooding, biodiversity and the role of farming in protecting rivers and ecosystems. One of the most interesting parts was hearing how much their thinking has already changed through travel, conversations and seeing systems first hand around the world 🌍

There were some brilliant discussions around collaboration too, particularly how farmers, researchers and businesses can work together rather than in isolation. While all four scholars have very different topics, there was a clear thread running through the conversation about resilience, curiosity and challenging the way things have always been done 🌾

We also got a real insight into the Nuffield experience itself, how topics evolve during travel, how ideas get reshaped by the people you meet, and why being open minded is such an important part of the process. Without giving away everything that will be shared on stage in Leeds, this episode gives a really strong taste of what people can expect from the conference later this year  

Thank you to NFU Mutual for their support of this project.

Enjoy! 🙂

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.