Dr. Pippa Hackett

Senator and Minister of State for Land Use & Biodiversity, Ireland.

Dr. Pippa Hackett is an Irish Green Party politician who has been serving as Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity since June 2020 and a spokesperson for Agriculture, Food, Forestry, Heritage, and Animal Welfare. She has been a Senator in Seanad Éireann at Houses of the Oireachtas for the Agricultural Panel since November 2019.

Dr. Hackett holds a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Essex, a postgraduate diploma from University College Dublin, and a PhD in Sports Biomechanics from the University of Limerick. She has been activity involved in many community-based and schools projects. Her roles include youth club secretary and leader, local newsletter editor, Mountlucas parkrun director, and board member of local sports committees. She is passionate about healthy living, environmental issues and animal welfare.

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Mr. Tom Arnold

Chair, EU Commission’s High Level Expert Group

Mr. Tom Arnold, an agricultural economist and public policy advisor, currently serves as Chair, EU Commission’s High Level Expert Group to assess the Need for an International Platform for Food Systems Science; the Irish Government’s Special Envoy for Food Systems; Member of the Champions Network for the UN Food Systems Summit; Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition; Board of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition; Malabo Montpellier Panel; and Sight and Life Foundation. 

He has previously served as Chair, Irish 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Committee, EU Commission’s Task Force Rural Africa, OECD Committee of Agriculture, and Irish Constitutional Convention; Coordinator, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement; Director General, Institute of International and European Affairs; Chief Executive, Concern Worldwide; Chief Economist and Assistant Secretary General, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; and Administrator, EU Commission.

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Prof. Rattan Lal,

The Ohio State University, USA.

 

 

Dr. Rattan Lal is a distinguished university Professor of Soil Science at the Ohio State University. His work focuses on  regenerative agriculture , through which soil can help resolve global issues, such as climate change, food security  and  water quality . His research led to a better understanding of how farming practices can restore degraded soils, increase soil organic matter by sequestering atmospheric carbon, and help combat rising CO2 levels in the air. He is highly respected in his field and has written or edited 151 books and made over 650 keynote speeches.

Prof. Lal was awarded the 2019 Japan Prize ‘for the sustainable management of soil for global food security and mitigation of climate change’. In June 2020, Professor Lal was the recipient of the prestigious World Food Prize.                

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