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Sarah Beynon

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Entomologist, ecologist and presenter

Sarah Beynon
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (BSc, DPhil)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford The Bug Farm

Sarah Beynon is an entomologist, ecologist and presenter in the UK.  She is a senior research associate at the University of Oxford and is founder of The Bug Farm.

Education and career

Beynon was educated at the University of Oxford, she did an undergraduate degree in Biology and a DPhil looking at the impacts of agricultural intensification on non-target invertebrates and ecosystem services at Jesus College, Oxford graduating in 2012; in 2014 she was appointed senior research associate at the University of Oxford.

Her research looks at the importance of dung beetles and she surveyed species in agricultural pastures on Ramsey Island. She showed that the presence of dung beetles can speed up rates of dung decomposition in pastures where cattle graze. Her work showed that the value of British dung beetles is £367 million because of the work they do breaking down cattle dung and fertilising soil, she also calculated that if cattle anti worming medicines such as ivermectin were not used then the value would increase by £6.2m

Beynon was an entomological consultant on the Beetle Boy trilogy of children's fiction books by M G Leonard and has appeared at the Hay festival with the author.

Media presenting

During her DPhil at the University of Oxford Beynon presented her research in several programmes including BBC Springwatch as well as Countryfile, Discovery Channel's Eating Giants: Hippo and Channel 4's Jimmy's Forest.

She was an expert on BBC Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies in 2014 and then featured on Countryfile again and BBC Radio 4's Midweek in 2015.

In 2020 she appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity, introduced by John Lloyd as an 'entomological agrarian', her donation to the museum was a wildflower meadow.

The Bug Farm

Beynon founded The Bug Farm entomological visitor attraction in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 2013, with chef Andy Holcroft, who created the Grub Kitchen restaurant in 2015 on the site. They founded Bug Farm Foods in 2017 creating a range of foods made from insects such as cricket flour and biscuits, adding in 2019 a low fat mince made from insects and plants. Beynon and Holcroft featured in a BBC Our Lives documentary 'The Bug Grub Couple' in 2017.

Awards and honours

Beynon was awarded the Alfred Russel Wallace award in late 2013 by the Royal Entomological Society for an outstanding PhD thesis that significantly contributes to the science of entomology.

In 2015 she was made Plantlife International Meadow Maker of the Year for Wales for her environmental work at the Bug Farm

Beynon was named as one of the Welsh Government's Year of Legends legendary people in 2017.

References

  1. "Dr Sarah Beynon". The Bug Farm. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  2. "Bug Bioblitz – Ramsey Island and Grassholm – Ramsey Island and Grassholm – The RSPB Community". community.rspb.org.uk. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  3. "Dung beetles play valuable role in grassland management". Farmers Weekly. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  4. Shardlow, Matt (25 September 2015). "Our debt to the dung beetle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  5. Torday, Piers (19 March 2016). "Beetle Boy by MG Leonard review – a fizzing, delightful debut". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  6. "CRICKET COOKIES | SARAH BEYNON". Hay Festival. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. Aaron, Martin (23 May 2012). "BBC Springwatch returns to Wales". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  8. "Countryfile | Jesus College, University of Oxford". www.jesus.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  9. Adewunmi, Bim (24 July 2014). "Operation Cloud Lab: Secrets of the Skies review – a scientific romp through the atmosphere". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  10. "BBC One – Countryfile, Pembrokeshire". BBC. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  11. "BBC Radio 4 – Midweek, Michel Roux Jr, Thomas Heatherwick, Dr Sarah Beynon, Dorothy Saul-Pooley". BBC. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  12. "BBC Radio 4 – The Museum of Curiosity Series 15 Episode 6". BBC. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  13. Beynon, Sarah (22 October 2015). "Bug burgers, anyone? Why we're opening the UK's first insect restaurant". The Conversation. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  14. "The biscuits made with insects from a bug farm now being sold by Selfridges". T&I Wales. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  15. "Healthy low-fat insect and plant protein launched in Wales". GOV.UK. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  16. "BBC – Insects could be the sustainable food of the future – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  17. "Royal Entomological Society Award | Jesus College, University of Oxford". www.jesus.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  18. mole, ian (3 November 2017). "Pembrokeshire Coast – Scheme helps establish wildflower meadow". Welsh Country. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  19. "DR SARAH BEYNON | INTERVIEW • Buzz Magazine". Buzz Magazine. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2020.

External links

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