The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust Centenary Award 2025

A promising postgraduate student from Holne in Devon has been selected to receive a national ‘Centenary Award’ bursary from The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust to support their studies relating to UK agriculture.

Maeve Leith was selected for the award to support her PhD at the University of Exeter. Maeve's working title for her thesis is "Shared Values, Divided Visions: Perceptions of Landscape Health in a National Park Context". It will be a Sociology programme with the university’s Centre for Rural Policy Research.

Focusing on Dartmoor National Park, Maeve’s research will explore the voices of farmers, conservationists and other stakeholders to understand how land use decisions are made. By exploring both conflict and common ground, she aims to help understand approaches that enable people and nature to thrive together.

Maeve explained more: “I grew up on Dartmoor and have a deep connection to the national park. My study will explore how different stakeholders define and interpret the concept of landscape ‘health‘ in a protected upland landscape, and I am passionate about engaging with, listening to, and supporting the farmers who look after the land. This work sits at the intersection of rural sociology, political ecology, and environmental governance, and will inform more inclusive and resilient approaches to land management in the UK’s uplands and other contested rural spaces.” 

Maeve added: “My long-term aspiration is to continue working at the interface between farming, ecology, and rural policy, helping to build more trusting, collaborative relationships across sectors. I am very grateful for the opportunity to enhance my knowledge and advance my career position with the support of this prestigious award.”

Professor Matt Lobley, Co-Director of the University of Exeter’s Centre for Rural Policy Research, commented: “The CRPR has a long history of working on Dartmoor. I am absolutely delighted that Maeve’s PhD research will continue this tradition and develop new understandings of how partnerships of farmers, commoners and other stakeholders can work together to deliver environmental management and meaningful livelihoods.”

The Centenary Award was launched by NFU Mutual to celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2010; to support agricultural leaders of the future, and champion research and innovation within the industry. It provides annual bursaries to pay up to 75% of course fees for selected postgraduate students in agriculture. To select the award recipients, the judging panel looked for applicants who are not only excellent academic performers, but also have a real passion for UK agriculture and demonstrate potential to become a future industry leader. 

Centenary Award bursaries will again be available in 2026. Applications for the award next year will be invited from the start of January.  In the meantime, prospective postgraduate agricultural students who would like to find out more about the award can also contact centenary_award@nfumutual.co.uk.