It’s International Women’s Day this week, and to celebrate Talking Ed’s will be welcoming Fellows Prof Tina Barsby and Ms Carey Robinson to speak.
Join us on Friday 7 March where Prof Tina Barsby OBE will speak on ”Farming in the Fens-carbon, biodiversity and food production”, exploring the tension between the fact that the farmed peat of the lowland Fens (north of Cambridge and stretching into areas of Cambridgeshire such as Wisbech and up into Lincolnshire) are known to produce large amounts of carbon and the fact that it produces significant amounts of our vegetables and salads. Is it possible to restore the original landscape and source our food from elsewhere?
About Prof Barsby
Tina Barsby is Honorary Professor of Agricultural Botany at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at St. Edmund’s College. Prof. Barsby is committed to supporting sustainable and profitable agriculture, and from her background in genetics has developed a broad understanding of farming and the related industry, having worked for and with farmers and landowners for the past 4 decades. In 2008 she became the first female CEO of NIAB, the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, from which she retired in 2021. She was awarded the OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List for services to agricultural science and biotechnology.
Ms Carey Robinson will speak on “To Be or What To Be? The contemporary museum increasingly seeks to present the viewpoints shared by communities to reflect the complexities of society. Moving from the passive enjoyment of a permanent collection to building a dynamic and enhanced visitor experience, community participation has become part of the production of the museum itself. Yet in an attention economy, in the age of the polycrisis, the line between social relevance and visitor experiences blurs. What is the future of the museum – a nice café “with art on the side” or an instrument for social change?
About Ms Robinson
Carey Robinson is Fellow, St. Edmund’s College and Deputy Director, Learning & Public Programmes at the Fitzwilliam Museum, where she is responsible for the strategic leadership and development of multidisciplinary creative learning experiences. She has formerly held roles at Tate, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, South London Gallery, and The Courtauld. Carey is a Trustee at A New Direction, who generate creative and cultural opportunities for young people, and at Create London, who work with communities to commission art and architecture.
Tea and coffee will be served at 5.30pm. The seminar begins at 5.45pm.
Open to all students, alumni, staff and Fellows.
No registration required. Just drop in.
