First Caroline Drummond Scholarship Supports Farming for Bumblebees Project - LEAF

Dr Nikki Gammans, Conservation Projects Manager for South East England at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is announced as the winner of the inaugural LEAF Caroline Drummond Scholarship for Innovation in Sustainability.

Dr Nikki Gammans, Conservation Projects Manager for South East England at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, will lead a pioneering project – ‘Farming For Bumblebees’ – to investigate forming the first bumblebee focused farmer cluster groups in the UK. Initially, they will be established in the South East of England specifically looking at protecting and enhancing bumblebee-friendly floral rich habitat on a landscape scale to the proven benefit of both biodiversity and farm productivity outcomes.

Nikki becomes the first recipient of The LEAF Caroline Drummond Scholarship for Innovation in Sustainability, named in recognition of the enormous legacy of LEAF’s founder and former CEO, Caroline Drummond MBE, who led the organisation from its inception in 1991.

Working for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust for the last 16 years, Nikki has provided bespoke advice to over 70 farmers on creating, managing, and maintaining flower-rich habitats for bumblebees.

Speaking on the Scholarship, she said: “I am incredibly excited to receive the first LEAF Caroline Drummond Scholarship to support our work to form four farm clusters in Kent and East Sussex. These will be the first clusters to have bumblebees (pollinators) as the main area of focus, as so many of our farms rely on these charismatic insects for their pollination services.”