Dr Ross, who leads CHAP’s international development, has dedicated her career to agriculture, engaging with a wide range of outreach activities, to help inspire the next generation of agriculturalists.
From a family farm in Tarland, Aberdeenshire, she gained a PhD in Environmental Science, focusing on developing novel biological control agents for molluscs. This spring-boarded her career as a world-renowned malacologist and nematologist, now often regarded as one of the industry’s leading ‘slug experts’.
Dr Ross was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2017 and travelled the world to bolster her slug knowledge, studying their economic risk, exploring monitoring systems and investigating control options. This led to her report ‘Riding the Slime Wave: Gathering Global Data on Slug Control’.
Commenting on receiving her OBE, she said: “I’m hugely shocked and massively honoured to receive an OBE and I look forward to using it to help champion career opportunities in agriculture and science.”
Dr Ross remains an active contributor to Nuffield, serving as past Secretary for Nuffield Scotland, and is current Chair of the Scotland Regional Group, working to recruit new Scholars and promote the scheme within the industry.
Passionate about inspiring the next generation, she is a STEM Ambassador and Lantra Industry Champion, and is also a Director of the Oxford Farming Conference, leading on the Under 30’s Scholars programme.
Jenna has been with CHAP for more than three and a half years, and her work includes overseeing innovation projects such as SlugBot – an autonomous slug monitoring and bio-molluscicide treatment system. Other highlights include driving two projects to improve agronomy and crop production in India, and managing a UK-Kenya collaboration to help growers overcome pest potato cyst nematode (PCN).
She works to develop strategic international collaborations to highlight the important work of CHAP and the wider UK agri-tech sector to key stakeholders across the world.
Highly published, Dr Ross has presented at leading industry events and conferences including REAP, AHDB, Nuffield Farming, CARAS, Lantra, IOBC, SIP and ICN, and will be speaking at the upcoming Cereals event on June 9.
She said: “It’s a privilege to get up every morning and do something that I truly love. Coming from generations of farmers on both sides of my family means that agriculture well and truly flows through my blood.
“It’s an honour to work with so many amazing organisations in the sector, and of course, as a scientist, to develop game-changing innovative and sustainable solutions for agriculture that deliver economic, environmental and societal impact.”
Dr Ross is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, holds her PhD from the University of Aberdeen, an MBA and First Class Honours Degree from Robert Gordon University, a Diploma in Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, and Executive Education in Global Business from Harvard Business School.
For more information about CHAP, visit www.chap-solutions.co.uk or contact enquiries@chap-solutions.co.uk
