Sarah completed her doctorate in entomology (insects) at Jesus College, Oxford. In the course of her research she has travelled the globe studying insects and other wildlife, to countries including Zambia, Indonesia, Bolivia and Honduras. She was awarded the Royal Entomological Society’s Alfred Russell Wallace award for ‘the best entomological thesis written in the English language’ in 2014. She is now a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. Sarah is a true natural historian and ecologist, and is a huge fan of the humble dung beetle! She runs pioneering research projects on ecosystem services provided by insects, especially in the farmed environment, and is passionate about promoting sustainable agriculture. She has published papers in world-class academic journals and communicates her research with articles in national newspapers, magazines and on the radio. Sarah’s research now also covers the potential of insects as human food and animal feed and she is considered an expert in this field. She is working on a number of exciting projects to develop insect farming in the UK. In her spare time, Sarah runs her 100 acre farm in St Davids and looks after her family of animals (including a herd of Welsh Black cattle, chickens, three horses and her dog Alfie)!
Her love of wildlife, enthusiasm for conservation and passion about the future of food has helped her build a burgeoning media career. She first appeared in Not In My Nature for BBC Wales in which she introduced a group of nature rookies to the wonders of sticking their hands into dung to find out what insects were flourishing inside! Her research now appears regularly in the media and has been covered three times on Countryfile and on Coast. In November 2011, she was sent to Zambia to cover the devouring of a hippo carcass in Channel 4’s Hippo: Nature’s Wild Feast. She has since co-presented Urban Jungle, Operation Cloud Lab and The Secret Life of Your House for BBC television and has recently appeared in Robson Green’s Tales from the Coast. Sarah is also in demand as a speaker and lecturer and delivers talks and presentations around the world. She was the scientific advisor on the best-selling book ‘Beetle Boy’ by M. G. Leonard (and on the forthcoming ‘Beetle Queen’ to be published in April) and promotes projects linking art and science together. For her work, Sarah has been chosen as an ‘Emerging Legend’ by Welsh Government for this year’s themed ‘Year of Legends’.
Her interest in farming insects for food led her and her chef husband Andy to launch Bug Farm Foods in 2017, where they innovate and produce a range of food made from farmed insects, including their famous Cricket Cookies and VEXo – an insect and plant protein mince that they developed with Welsh Government and Innovate UK, with the aim of getting it onto school menus to help reduce childhood obesity and highlight sustainable food choices.
In her spare time, Sarah is passionate about rescuing animals and positive animal training. Sarah and Andy live together with their family of 26 cows, 3 horses, 2 chickens, 4 dogs, 4 goats and a tarantula called Rosie.
For more information about Sarah Beynon please contact her agent Andrew Wilson: andrew@cloud9management.co.uk
