Alumni events

Farm491 Croissants & Questions Breakfast Series

Join Farm491 for its monthly ‘Croissants & Questions’ business breakfast this March at The Royal Agricultural University (RAU). 

Its guest speakers this month are Professor Nicola Cannon (Professor of Agriculture, RAU), Rachel Wheatley (Project Manager of the GREAT Zerodig site at the RAU), Charles Nash (Land Manager, Sapperton Wilder) and Chenie Prudhomme (Ecologist, Sapperton Wilder).

They will discuss strategic land management at the RAU and within the Cotswolds, in relation to the RAU Farms, GREAT Zerodig and Sapperton Wilder, exploring how both the University and these two Cotswolds projects optimise their land use to meet their strategic objectives.  

They will illuminate how they deploy technological innovations to support data-driven decision making on land usage, and how they manage their land in line with sustainable and regenerative principles.

Their talks will be followed by a Q&A and the opportunity to network with others interested in agriculture and strategic land management.

Advanced registration is required, reserve your free place now at https://tinyurl.com/vm3xh6tx

There will be croissants aplenty…the questions are up to you!

180th Lecture Series ~ 'Cerealsly' Rethinking Arable Growing Systems

The first 180th anniversary lecture will take place on Wednesday 02 April 2025 from 4pm to 6pm in the Boutflour Hall, at the Royal Agricultural University, delivered by Nicola Cannon, Professor of Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University and Andy Cato, Wilfarmed co-founder.

Andy Cato and Nicola Cannon are going to explore from two completely different perspectives how research and practical farming examples are moving towards regenerative, agroecology farming systems function. They will explore the opportunities of bicropping, reducing the intensity of tillage, grazing cereals with sheep, different weed control techniques and evaluating this range of techniques. Each speaker will discuss the opportunities and challenges of trying to reduce reliance on external inputs in agriculture and how this can become an integrated into agricultural practices to deal help develop environmentally acceptable farming solutions. Andy has taken the growing to the consumer by developing the ‘Wildfarmed’ flour and bread range which are described as ‘life-changing’ and is sold in Waitrose.

Come along to hear their science and stories and to evaluate how we can rethink how crops are grown to help overcome some of the big challenges of our time.

Tickets and parking are free. Visit this link to book on Eventbrite.

180th Bledisloe Lecture with Dame Helen Ghosh

This prestigious lecture is named after eminent RAU alumnus Charles Bathurst, the first Lord Bledisloe (1867-1958) who was also Governor General of New Zealand in the early 1900s, who was deeply interested in agriculture and forestry and was one of the staunchest supporters of the then Royal Agricultural College.

This year's Bledisloe speaker is Dame Helen Gosh.

Dame Helen Ghosh DCB has worked for over 30 years in a variety of government departments, including the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Cabinet Office, HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions. Helen was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Permanent Secretary at the Home Office. She left the Civil Service in 2012 to become Director General of the National Trust, and took up her role as Master of Balliol in April 2018. While a civil servant, she worked on key environmental policies, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the protection of habitat for endangered species.

This is an annual event held in the Boutflour Hall, previous speakers have included Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, Helen Browning and Teresa Wickham. The lecture usually starts at 6:30pm and previous lectures have included a question-and-answer session at the end as part of the event.

Tickets and parking are free. Visit this link to book on Eventbrite.

Saturday, 31 May

1994 Class Reunion

Are you part of the Class of 1994? Please get in touch with us for your 30th Reunion. Plans are underway including dinner and dancing! Email alumni@rau.ac.uk for more information. 
 

180th Lecture Series ~ Globalisation and Empire

The second 180th anniversary lecture will take place on Wednesday 11 June 2025 in the Boutflour Hall, at the Royal Agricultural University, delivered by Professor Mark Horton, RAU Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise, and historian William Dalrymple.

Mark will be discussing 40 years of his archaeological and historical research with the eminent historian William Dalrymple. Mark has investigated the ancient origins of the maritime silk road, and how crops and animals were dispersed across Eurasia, and the pioneer colonies established by Europeans during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The conservation between William and Mark will take us from the shores of Madagascar, Zanzibar and Sri Lanka, to the Vikings, Panama, the Caribbean and Virginia, and will help to explain why historical archaeology is so important in discovering the origins of the modern world.

Mark Horton is Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise and Professor of Archaeology at the RAU. He has conducted archaeological research since 1980’s in East Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and America.

William Dalrymple is a prolific author on Indian history, colonialism and empire, and his most recent book, The Golden Road explores the profound influence of India on the ancient world.

Tickets and parking are free. Visit this link to book on Eventbrite.

180th Lecture Series ~ Dancing with Daffodils

The third 180th anniversary lecture will take place on Wednesday 16 July 2025 in the Kenneth Russell room, at the Royal Agricultural University. The lecture delivered by Kevin Stephens, along with Xianmin Chang, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (China Programmes) at Royal Agricultural University, is to explore the pitfalls and opportunities of developing new commercial markets for field scale crops, using the development story of hill farm production of daffodils to provide bio-active compounds to the pharma and ag-chem industries.

Mr Kevin Stephens has over 20 years of experience managing development projects across commercial and public sectors, combining his agricultural background with expertise in chemical engineering, an MBA, and an MSc in International Management and Finance. Working together with Professor Xianmin Chang and other colleagues, Kevin’s research in daffodils has led to the development of novel techniques for agronomy, harvesting, and extraction, resulting in bioactive compounds with anti-viral, anti-cancer, and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) treatment. 

Prof Xianmin Chang has over 40 years research experiences. In the last two decades, Prof Chang’s research focusses on growing daffodils for alkaloids for human health. Closely working with pharmaceutical companies, particularly with Mr Kevin Stephens at Agroceutical Products Ltd (APL), his research projects include daffodil material screening, genetic analysis, planting, and alkaloid extraction, isolation and purification. So far, over 500 alkaloids have been identified and one of which is Galanthamine which is now being used to the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Come along to hear their stories and how research in daffodils plays an important role into our future.

Tickets and parking are free. Visit this link to book on Eventbrite.

180th Lecture Series ~ Our Future in the Land

The fourth 180th anniversary lecture will take place on Wednesday 10 September 2025 in the Boutflour Hall, at the Royal Agricultural University, delivered by Sue Pritchard is Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) and Tom MacMillan, Elizabeth Creak Chair in Rural Policy and Strategy at the Royal Agricultural University.

Behind our virtual realities of Zoom meetings and AI assistants, the world depends more critically than ever on how we use the land. This is because land is under unprecedented pressure. In the UK and globally, we need more from the land – food, energy, wildlife, carbon sinks, housing – than there are acres to provide it. Unless, that is, we use it differently. How can better ways of making decisions, and new tools and approaches to managing land, help us find a way through?

Sue Pritchard is Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) and an independent Governor of the RAU. The FFCC’s 2019 report, ‘Our Future in the Land’, recommended a national land use framework for England – a proposal accepted by the previous government that is now being implemented. 

Prof Tom MacMillan is Elizabeth Creak Chair in Rural Policy and Strategy at the RAU. He provided research support to the FFCC and is involved in an initiative at the RAU to support land use innovation. He is a trustee of the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust.

Come along to learn more about the new tools and approaches to managing land and the impact this will have in the UK and globally.

Tickets and parking are free. Visit this link to book on Eventbrite.

1972-195 REM Grand 50th Reunion

Are you part of this cohort? Please get in touch with us for your 50th Grand Reunion. Plans include a lovely drinks reception and dinner. Email alumni@rau.ac.uk for more information.

Wednesday, 22 October

6:00pm to 8:00pm

180th Lecture Series ~ Making Farming Buzz Again

The fifth 180th anniversary lecture will take place on Wednesday 22 October 2025 in the Boutflour Hall, at the Royal Agricultural University, delivered by Ann Conquest of Land Use Consultant (LUC), Associate Director, Rural Land Management and Duncan Westbury, Dean of Land and Property Management at the Royal Agricultural University.

Ann has over 20 years' experience in implementing and designing Agri-Environment schemes, having previously worked for Natural England. Ann has a proven track record of effective partnerships working to find effective solutions to challenging situations. She has worked extensively with farmers, NGOs, Local Authorities and large landowners and estates on a wide range of projects, aiming to benefit people, nature and the rural economy. 

Professor Duncan Westbury joined the Royal Agricultural University in September 2023 after over 12 years at the University of Worcester and nine years at the University of Reading. He has a very strong background in applying ecological principles to habitat creation and management, with specific research experience on the management of agroecosystems to support biodiversity whilst simultaneously supporting ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes.

Come along to learn what is being done to making farming buzz again, enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services in agriculture landscapes.

Tickets and parking are free. Visit this link to book on Eventbrite.

180th Lecture Series ~ Water, Wastewater, Everywhere... Every drop counts!

The sixth and final 180th anniversary lecture will take place on Wednesday 12 November 2025 at the Royal Agricultural University.