Champions - Year 2

In 2024 we appointed six new Champions who bring a wealth of expertise spanning the agri-food system, from hands-on farming to wider industry, academia and the public sector. Each Champion leads one of six research themes, identified by our members during The Big Tent 2023, our annual general meeting.

charlotte Wheeler

Charlotte Wheeler

Year 2 Champion Circular Food Systems

​Charlotte has worked in the agricultural sector for the past decade, as a farmer, in academia, and currently for Pasture for Life, where she established their regional farmer knowledge exchange groups.

Georgie Barber

Georgie Barber

Year 2 Champion Land Use and Land Management

​Georgie is the Land Use and Countryside lead at the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, focusing on how a Land Use Framework can support better food systems and the transition to net zero.

Saher Hasnain

Saher Hasnain

Year 2 Champion Healthy and Sustainable Diets

​Saher is a Researcher at the Food Systems Transformation Programme with the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute and an Environmental Change Research Fellow with Reuben College.

Jude Irons

Jude Irons

Year 2 Champion Food Security and Trade

Jude was brought up on a smallholding in Derbyshire and read Animal Science at the University of Leeds. She started her career at Tesco, and subsequently worked for Marks and Spencer, Booker, as a consultant, and for the 2 Sisters Food Group.

Amy Jackson

Amy Jackson

Year 2 Champion Behaviour Change

Amy has spent most of her life working in and around farming: on farms, as trainee auctioneer and cattle breeder, and in agricultural public relations – including four years as head of communications at the dairy levy board. After time out working with international clients such as Toyota and Gillette, she returned to specialise in […]

Abacus Bio-Caeli

Caeli Richardson

Year 2 Champion Land Productivity

Caeli discovered her passion for agriculture while working on a dairy farm in Canada. She broadened her practical experience on a local swine and cash- crop operation before gaining a global perspective of on-farm challenges.