David Scallan is a 2026 Nuffield Ireland Scholar. He graduated from Kildalton College with a Level 6 in Dairy Herd Management (2012) and a Level 7 Professional Diploma (2014). Since returning home full-time, David has expanded the herd and transitioned the enterprise fully to dairy production.

Actively involved in his community, he is a member of Macra na Feirme, IFA, and his local GAA club. His Nuffield research explores how the sector can attract and retain young people in farming careers.

Nuffield study topic: “How do we as an industry get more youth into farming.”

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Kenny McCauley is a 2026 Nuffield Ireland Scholar. Based on the family farm near Mohill, the business processes around 500 tonnes of wood biomass weekly—displacing almost 200,000 litres of fossil oil. Its customer base spans poultry, pig, and mushroom farms, as well as hotels and large heat users nationwide.

Kenny is passionate about linking forestry, farming, and rural enterprise to create short, reliable supply chains that keep value local and reduce fossil-fuel dependence. An early advocate of the WFQA quality standard, he continues to work with farmers, co-ops, and energy users to advance sustainable biomass systems. His international experience in East Africa reinforced his belief in locally driven, renewable solutions.

Nuffield study topic: “Mobilising rural biomass: unlocking renewable heat, carbon storage and bioeconomy value from farm forest resources.”

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Paula McCooey is a 2026 Nuffield Ireland Scholar. After graduating from UCD in 2014 with a BSc in Animal and Crop Production, she began her career with a major poultry integration in England. Since returning to Ireland in 2017, Paula has held advisory roles across the industry and, in 2021, moved into poultry nutrition. She now works with Trouw Nutrition, supporting poultry accounts across the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

Paula combines technical expertise with a practical, farm-focused approach and remains actively involved in agriculture through life on a mixed sheep and beef farm with her husband.

Nuffield study topic: “Living with bird flu: global lessons for Ireland’s poultry future.”

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Conor Horgan is a 2026 Nuffield Ireland Scholar. He graduated from UCD with a BAgrSc in Dairy Business (2018) and completed a PhD in dairy farm labour management and productivity in 2022.

At Teagasc, Conor manages multidisciplinary research focused on improving workplace attractiveness, productivity, and generational renewal in Irish dairying. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in Cork University Business School, contributing to the UCC Agricultural Science degree programme.

Conor broadened his international perspective through work with DairyNZ’s Farm Systems team in New Zealand. Alongside his research career, he remains active on the home farm and plays hurling with his local club, Lorrha-Dorrha.

Nuffield study topic: “Future entry, progression and succession pathways for Irish dairy farms.”

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Joh Donlon is a 2026 Nuffield Ireland Scholar. After earning his veterinary degree from UCD in 2018, he completed a production animal internship at the Royal Veterinary College and later a PhD at UCD on housing and calf pneumonia.

John worked with Teagasc to improve animal health in the dairy calf-to-beef sector and is a member of the Progressive Veterinary Network, co-authoring a landmark paper on veterinary workforce retention. In May 2025, he joined Atlantic Technological University (ATU) as a Lecturer, contributing to the launch of Ireland’s new veterinary school.

Nuffield study topic: “Stopping the brain drain: retaining young veterinary professionals in rural Irish communities.”

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Majella’s role advocates on behalf of Irish dairy farmers, working to bridge the gap between consumer understanding and the practices committed to by Irish dairy producers. Her role within the National Dairy Council alongside the team is dedicated to safeguarding Irish dairy’s international reputation and promoting its social license to produce.

Raised on a farm in County Leitrim, earning a Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Nursing, specialising in large animals, from Dundalk IT, she was named National Irish Veterinary Nurse Student of the Year in 2015 alongside the overall Enterprising student of the year by the business school for demonstrating leadership and entrepreneurship serving the farming community.

She earned Professional Masters in Business from the Irish Management Institute, Dublin/University College Cork Business School, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Sustainable Agriculture – DKIT /Ballyhaise Agriculture college and a National Business Scholarship from the Global 30% Club in 2021.

As Farm Development Manager at LacPatrick Dairies, she advised farmers on enhancing business efficiency and profitability. She later took on a position with Lakeland Dairies NI before becoming Farm Profitability Specialist with Aurivo Co-operative.

Majella has led programs for young farmers, herd health and women in agriculture, guiding three farms to win the NDC and Kerrygold Milk Quality Awards. She was also a lead in the Teagasc ASAP program and has represented cooperatives and shareholders in national programs, including Animal Health Ireland.

She has worked with various industry stakeholders to develop strategies driving supplier and consumer engagement, fostering cultural change within the dairy sector.

Majella’s chosen topic, ‘Evaluating the Dairy Supply Chain: Linking Production Efficiency to Consumer Behaviour and Market Trends’ will look at analysing the dairy supply chain, focusing on how production efficiency relates to consumer behaviour, market trends, and cultural influences. Her study will provide actionable insights for industry stakeholders to adapt to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics.

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As a 2025 Nuffield Ireland Scholar, Zoe’s research topic “Future Grasslands for Climate Adaptation: What are the options for Ireland?” aims to evaluate grassland strategies to adapt to climate change and increase the sustainability of Ireland’s grass-based production systems.

Zoe grew up in the farming community of Ballyfin Co. Laois and now lives in Ballina Co. Mayo with her partner Michael where they are dairy farming.

Zoe graduated with a BAgrSc in 2015 and completed her PhD in dairy production in 2019, both from University College Dublin (UCD) Ireland.

She is currently an Assistant Professor of Grass and Forage Science in the School of Agriculture and Food Science in UCD. Within this role Zoe is the Programme Director for the undergraduate degree programme Sustainable Food Systems and leads a grassland research programme at UCD Lyons Farm. Additionally, Zoe is secretary to the board of Dairy Women Ireland.

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Seamus was brought up on a suckler and sheep farm in Castlederg, West Tyrone and this instilled in him a passion for agriculture. He now lives in County Monaghan with his wife Charlotte and their four young children.

He graduated from Queens University Belfast with a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Sustainable Rural Development and Project Management. In his earlier career he was employed by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) in various capacities and most recently has taken on the role of Sector Manager for Sheepmeat and Livestock for Bord Bia, while also assisting colleagues in supporting the Irish Beef sector. He is also the red meat representative on the advisory committee of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) in Northern Ireland.

As a 2025 Nuffield Ireland Scholar, Seamus’ research topic “Exploring diversification opportunities that compliment sheepmeat production to address issues around generational renewal” aims to identify alternative income streams that can operate in tandem, and complement, sheep production in order to help stabilise the Irish sheep flock and attract new entrants into the sector.

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Marina from Co.Sligo is a well-known voice and strong female leader in forestry in Ireland. During her tenure in Western Forestry Co-op, she established Ireland’s first Woodland Festival, the largest Native Woodland Park, and the first pioneer birch woodland.

She is a regular contributor to radio, print media, and television including most recently Faraway Fields on RTE where she lived with an Indigenous tribe in Brazil.

Marina graduated from UCD with a degree and Masters in Agricultural Science specialising in Forestry, as well as receiving qualifications in environmental auditing, training and water pollution control. Marina has worked in the public sector, private sector and ran her own company. She is the former CEO of Western Forestry Co-op and worked internationally in Government in New Zealand on Forestry in the Emissions Trading Scheme. Marina has spent the majority of her career in farm forestry, her passion is for farmers, farm families and communities being at the centre of our national forestry policy and that our forests are best served in local and rural ownership. She has spent her career providing motivation, information, organisation and management services to create widespread engagement in sustainable forest management to include afforestation, native woodland management, community woodlands and harvesting in all aspects of farm forestry. She has participated in national committees on forestry including been appointed by the Minister to Project Woodland, the Forestry Strategy Implementation Group and Ministerial Forestry Programme Implementation Group amongst others.

Marina’s chosen topic is “Unlocking the Potential of Agroforestry in an Irish context. Policy and Practice”. Marina believes that agroforestry has huge potential in Ireland, allowing farmers to integrate trees into their existing farming systems, however as a relatively new enterprise, with many unknowns, uptake has been low and so she aims to look to more established agroforestry systems internationally to garner experiences.

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Niall Hurson grew up on a small suckler farm in Smithborough, Co Monaghan, and spends most of his weekends there farming. Since graduating from UCD with a BAgrSc Animal Science in 2020, Niall has worked for leading media outlets, including the Irish Farmers Journal and RTÉ’s Ear to the Ground.
Niall is currently employed by the Irish Independent where he works as a Rural Affairs Journalist. His main areas of interest are climate action, farm incomes, and politics. Outside of work, one of Niall’s favourite pastimes is running.
Niall’s study topic is titled “Mapping the farming maestros: Who shapes agriculture’s narrative and how it varies across the globe.”
Niall will take a deep dive into who influences famers’ attitudes towards Government policies, with particular focus on measures aimed at climate change mitigation.
Similarly, Niall aims to establish how the farming community can positively influence the public’s attitude towards agricultural practices, presenting case studies where the sector has struggled to do so previously.
Niall has decided to undertake this research because he feels that how farmers, and the public at large, view agriculture’s imminent challenges, will influence the degree of our collective success in responding.

Who tells farming’s story best? Mapping the voices shaping the future of agriculture

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