Meet the judges and find out what they will be looking for at IFST's Northern Ireland, Young Scientist Competition on 23 May, AFBI HQ
Anne Richmond, Research and Development Manager, Moy Park
Anne studied Biology at the University of Dundee, followed by working in the Agri-Food Biosciences Institute non-ruminant lab. In 2010 she decided to return to full time education to study for a PhD at Queens University Belfast but based at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute in Hillsborough graduating in December 2013. During her PhD she was successful in her application to the IFST to be a fellow at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (Westminster, London). During 3 month fellowship she was responsible for researching and writing a report, known as a POSTnote, on the topic of ‘Livestock Super farms’ which was a fantastic experience. After PhD she continued to work at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institutes in the sustainable beef production unit before joining Moy Park in September 2014. Her role at Moy Park is R&D Manager, she very fortunate to love her job, it’s challenging and rewarding in equal measure and she works with a wonderful and extremely talented team of people. She is really excited about the competition; as a judge she thinks passion and enthusiasm are really important as well as attention to detail.
Naomi Davidson, Senior Scientific Advisor, FSA NI
Naomi is a Senior Scientific Advisor based in the dietary health team within the Food Standards Agency and manages the Agencies nutrition surveillance programmes alongside other nutrition related research projects. Graduating from Ulster University with a degree in Human Nutrition and a Masters in Health Promotion and Public Health, Naomi has over 6 years’ experience working in health promotion across community, voluntary and statutory sectors.
David McCleery, Head of Bacteriology, AFBI
Dr David McCleery has a professional background in science, communication and public administration and has held a number of leadership roles in the Agri-food sector across the island of Ireland. David is currently Head of Bacteriology for the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and is responsible for the delivery of an integrated programme of statutory, diagnostic and R&D work on the major bacterial pathogens of animal and public health significance.
David previously held the positions of Northern Ireland Contact Point (Agri-food) for Horizon 2020 where he supported local businesses, research and innovation organisations in developing applications for EU funding and also Chief Specialist Microbiologist with safe food where he was responsible for developing interventions to improve food safety and to protect public health throughout Ireland. David has also served on the Northern Ireland Food Advisory Committee and is currently Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. David is particularly interested in seeing sound, credible science being fully exploited to improve the lives of citizens.
SPONSORSHIP
- NIFDA are kindly sponsoring prizes*
- AFBI are providing the venue for this event
