Speakers

Marianne is a Professor of BioProcess & Tissue Engineering at the University of Bath, UK. Marianne is one of the founders of the cellular agriculture community in the UK, involved since 2012 and has acted in an advisory capacity to the UK government and international government agencies and charities. Marianne has twice successfully translated sustainable manufacturing technologies from university research to industry, having co-founded two companies, including Cellular Agriculture Ltd, that have raised over £30m from private investment.

Marianne will be opening the conference with a welcome and brief update on the CARMA project.

Josh Milburn is a Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at Loughborough University. He is the author of Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022) and Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully (Oxford University Press, 2023). He has published widely on cellular agriculture, including both philosophical and social scientific work, and is currently part of a CARMA-funded project on cellular agriculture in the British fashion industry. He also hosts the animal studies podcast Knowing Animals.

Josh will be presenting at the conference on Fashion and cellular agriculture along with Jack Waverley and Victoria Stephens from the University of Manchester.

Jack Waverley is a marketing and consumer researcher at the University of Manchester. He studies how markets might become a more inclusive, just, and liberating places for all humans and animals.

Jack will be presenting on Fashion and cellular agriculture along with Josh Milburn and Victoria Stephens.

Victoria Stephens is a researcher and lecturer within the Fashion Business and Technology (FBT) group in the Department of Materials at the University of Manchester.

Victoria’s research interests concern the processes by which (new) knowledge and (new) reality(ies) are constructed and maintained, particularly as they relate to addressing issues of (un)sustainability and (in)justice for human and non-human stakeholders in supply chains. Her work has been published in the Journal of Supply Chain Management, and the International Journal of Operations and Production Management.

Victoria will be presenting on Fashion and cellular agriculture along with Josh Milburn and Jack Waverley.

Jonathan is a Lecturer in Food Systems Transformation at the University of Bristol Business School. Jonathan is a sociologist whose work primarily draws from theoretical resources across political economy, science and technology studies and sustainable transitions scholarship. Much of his research to date has focused on the ways in which food consumption is shaped by patterns of governance and regulation, sociotechnical innovation, and markets in the enactment of healthier and more sustainable futures.

Jonathan will be chairing the panel on Fashion and Cellular Agriculture.

Neil is an Associate Professor in Technology and Society at the University of Birmingham. He is a social scientist analysing innovation in biotechnology and is best known for his work on cultured meat but has also written on biomedical cell work and human embryo research politics.

Neil leads on Work Package 5 for CARMA working with Dr Lensa Jotte. Neil is chair of the CARMA conference organising committee for 2026 and will be presenting on UK Stakeholder perspectives on cultivated meat and risk.

Dr Jasmina Stevanov is a Lecturer in Consumer Psychology at the University of Bristol Business School. Within CARMA, Jasmina is leading the work on identifying and quantifying the psychological and social factors that shape consumer perceptions of cellular agriculture, and on exploring interventions that may help narrow the gap between intentions and actual consumption of cultured meat.

Jasmina will be chairing and fielding Q&A for the presentation on UK Stakeholder perspectives on cultivated meat and risk

Lensa is a postdoctoral researcher whose work examines cultured meat as a social, political, and cultural project, shaping how future food systems are imagined and enacted across diverse contexts. Her research moves beyond technical performance to analyse how meanings, values, spaces, and histories influence the reception and governance of emerging food technologies.

Her PhD focused on discourse analysis of cultured meat based on qualitative research with Oromo communities in Ethiopia, particularly in Borana and Yabello. Using cultivated meat as an analytical lens, she explored how discussions of novel foods intersect with identity, food practices, and experiences of social change, offering insight into how novel foods can engage with Indigenous knowledge and local food cultures in globally relevant ways.

Originally trained as an engineer, Lensa combines technical expertise with social science methods to study food, water, energy, and technology systems.

At the conference, Lensa will be chairing the panel on Cellular agriculture and online conspiracy theory.

Mike is an interdisciplinary, critical human geographer focusing on the cultural politics of food, humanitarianism and the environment. He is particularly interested in conceptualising how these issues and connections are framed in the media in order to understand their social and geographical significance to building more sustainable societies, challenging existing structures of power and offering critical spaces for marginalised voices. Current research has focused on the media constructions of cellular agriculture in UK food and farming media, the economic and political geographies of conspiracy theories and cellular agriculture and the celebrity narratives of Covid-19 on Twitter.

At the conference, Mike will be on the panel discussing Cellular agriculture and online conspiracy theory alongside Guoste Pivoraite from the University of Plymouth

Guoste Pivoraite is a researcher at the University of Plymouth Business School (UK) working in consumer behaviour and decision-making in the context of emerging food technologies. Her research looks at how attitudes towards cellular agriculture form within information environments, and how predispositions, beliefs and knowledge structures shape acceptance and resistance. A strand of her work analyses misinformation and conspiracy narratives as part of wider processes through which people evaluate innovation. She connects large-scale discourse analysis with established consumer behaviour frameworks to interpret how public judgement develops.

Her work contributes to debates on social licence and responsible innovation from a behavioural perspective, with particular attention to how consumer insight informs strategic and governance decisions in sustainable food transitions. Alongside her research, she engages in teaching across consumer behaviour and marketing research, linking behavioural theory with real-world decision contexts. She is interested in how perceptions and narratives influence strategic choices in periods of uncertainty and transformation.

At the CARMA conference, Guoste will be one of the panellists discussing Cellular agriculture and online conspiracy theory alongside Prof Mike Goodman from the University of Reading.

James is a Research Fellow at the Royal Agricultural University and a social scientist specialising in the relationships between science, technology, and society. With a background in science communication and public engagement, he has led and contributed to research and engagement on topics including evolution, plastics, climate change, and public participation in the development of artificial intelligence. At the CARMA Hub, James facilitates dialogue between publics, experts, stakeholders, and decision-makers with the aim of co-creating fairer food futures.

James is on the organising committee for the CARMA conference this year and will also be presenting on What is social licence for cellular agriculture?

Atenchong is a senior Lecturer in International Rural Development at the Royal Agricultural University. He has a MSc in Agricultural Food Production and Environmental Protections from the University of Hohenheim and a PhD in International and Rural Development form the University of Reading. With consultancy experience in organisations such as the Technical Centre of Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the European Forum for Agricultural Research and Development (EFARD), Atenchong’s research focuses on the political economy of agrarian systems, land tenure and food security. He has a particular interest in interdisciplinary research aimed at deconstructing contemporary approaches to development theory and practice.

Atenchong is on the organising committee for the conference this year and will be a panellist discussing People, futures and social licence alongside Pat Thomas from A Bigger Convesation and Linus Pardoe from GFI Europe.

Pat Thomas is Director of Beyond GM and founder of A Bigger Conversation, UK-based initiatives working to reshape public and policy engagement with genetic technologies in food and farming. Through advocacy, research and dialogue, her work focuses on transparency, accountability and the societal implications of emerging biotechnologies. An award-winning campaigner, journalist and author, Pat is a former editor of The Ecologist magazine and has led campaigns for organisations including Paul McCartney’s Meat-Free Monday and Compassion in World Farming. A long-time advocate of principled, sustainable farming, she has written more than 40 books for adults and children and was inducted into Who’s Who in 2014. Alongside her work with Beyond GM and A Bigger Conversation, she continues to write, journalistically and creatively, and is a regular public speaker and media commentator. She has also served as a trustee of both the Soil Association and the Organic Research Centre.

Pat will be one on the panel discussing People, futures and social licence alongside Pat Thomas from A Bigger Conversation and Atenchong Nkobou from Royal Agricultural University.

Linus Pardoe is Senior UK Programme Manager at the Good Food Institute Europe – an international non-profit organisation working to create a more sustainable food system by accelerating protein diversification. Linus works with UK policymakers, funding bodies, businesses, NGOs and other stakeholders to advance the development of plant-based foods, cultivated meat and fermentation.

Prior to joining GFI Europe in 2022, Linus was a researcher at the Social Market Foundation, a cross-party think-tank in London. He holds an MSc in Social Policy and Social Research from University College London.

At the conference Linus will be one of the panellists discussing People, futures and social licence alongside Pat Thomas from A Bigger Conversation and Atenchong Nkobou from Royal Agricultural University.