“I always had it on my radar to apply for a Nuffield scholarship when I was working at LIC Ireland as they sponsored Nuffield. I was fortunate enough to go along to the conferences and found them really interesting and thought I should apply,” she explains.

“I wasn’t sure at the time what I wanted to do the scholarship on. Initially I thought animal health because I was always interested in that side of things – the improvements and sustainable programmes – but what I chose to do it on was basically my own career and promote it to young people,” she says.

“I was very fortunate along the way with the people I met.”

Sharing her story

Linda wants to bring her story to those who need it. The students sitting in transition year unsure of what they want to do, or the sibling who loves farming but can’t see a career path because they are not first in line for the family farm or, indeed, don’t have one at all.

Linda’s research was conducted remotely due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. She interviewed people within the industry to ask them how and why they choose the careers they did and how can the industry promote farming as a rewarding career to young people.

Nuffield Ireland is holding its annual conference at Castleknock Hotel on Friday 12 November.

There are virtual and in-person ticket options available. For more information, visit https://nuffield.ie/nuffield-ireland-conference-2021/