Speakers
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Dr Junaid Mubeen Mathematician and Author
Junaid is a TEDx speaker and the author of Mathematical Intelligence: What we have that machines don’t (Profile Books, 2022), which explores the creative edge that maths gives us over AI. He writes and speaks on a range of topics at the intersection of mathematics, education ,and innovation.
Junaid has worked in EdTech for over a decade, advising schools and governments around the world on how to use technology to drive better learning outcomes. He is currently partnering with bestselling science writer Simon Singh to develop an online academy of maths excellence.
Junaid has a doctorate in mathematics from Oxford and a Master’s in Education from Harvard, where he studied as a Kennedy scholar. He is a keen runner, a board game enthusiast and an amateur card magician. He is perhaps best known for winning Series 59 of television game show, Countdown.
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Minette Batters National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
Minette was the first woman to become President of the National Farmers’ Union in 113yrs. She’s represented the interests of farming businesses across England and Wales through unprecedented times. Navigating the challenges of Brexit, Covid 19 and the war in Ukraine. A post from which she stood down in February 2024.
Campaigning on behalf of 50,000 +NFU members about the importance of British food and farming has been a key driver for Minette throughout her time at the NFU. In 2020, she led one of the most successful campaigns ever seen, bringing together a coalition of chefs – including Jamie Oliver – farmers, environmentalists, consumer groups, and animal welfare experts. This ultimately resulted in over one million people signing the NFU food standards petition. She has regularly engaged with different media, including frequent appearances on the Today programme, Question Time, Any Questions, Desert Island Discs, Woman’s Hour and other national print and broadcast media.
Minette trained as Cordon Bleu chef and runs a farm, flower business and a wedding venue. She’s an ambassador for Farm Africa and a passionate advocate and fundraiser for the Junior Diabetic Research Foundation. In her spare time, she’s run in four marathons, raising over 100,000 for charity.
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Dr Tim Gregory Planetary Geologist
Tim works full-time as a nuclear chemist in the heart of the British nuclear industry. He spends his workdays in the lab measuring the chemistry and radioactivity of nuclear materials, taking him to the forefront of nuclear energy, net zero, and nuclear medicine.
Tim’s background is in academia. After completing a PhD at the University of Bristol researching the formation of the Solar System using meteorites, Tim became a postdoctoral researcher at the British Geological Survey in Nottingham. His background on the cutting edge of academic research prepared him perfectly for his sideways career step into the nuclear industry.
In 2020, Tim’s debut book – Meteorite: How Stones from Outer Space Made Our World — was published by John Murray to critical acclaim. Before this, in 2017, Tim surpassed thousands of applicants for a place in the six-part BBC2 series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes?, where he was put through the full rigours of astronaut selection and reached the final three.
Since then, he has gone on to present a segment about meteorites on BBC4’s The Sky at Night and has made live television appearances on BBC Breakfast, BBC Look North, and BBC Points West. He frequently features on local and national radio to talk about events in the world of space, science, and nuclear.
Tim loves nothing more than sharing his love of science and the wonders of the natural world.
