Plenary keynote speakers and moderators

Maria Knutson Wedel is the Vice-Chancellor at SLU since 2019. She is committed to research, education, internationalisation, sustainability integration and leadership.

She has a Master of Science in Engineering Physics from Chalmers University of Technology, a PhD in Physics and has been educational development leader, vice president of education Chalmers University of Technology as well as vice chairman at the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development. 

Professor Rao has worked extensively for over three decades as a researcher, teacher, and advocate in the fields of women’s rights, employment, and education. Beginning as an activist for gender equality and women’s empowerment, her research explores gendered changes in land and migration within marginalized rural communities, aiming to achieve livelihood, food, and nutrition security in the face of climate and economic challenges, primarily in South Asia, with experience also in Eastern Africa. She has led and contributed to numerous multi-country research programs focused on climate change adaptation, sustainable food systems, coastal transformations and migration.

Recognized for her scientific expertise, Professor Rao serves on high-level science advisory panels including the EAT-Lancet Commission 2.0 and the UN Food Systems Transformation Coordination Hub, and recently completed a term on the HLPE to the CFS. She also contributes to research strategy as part of UKRI and UK-CGIAR advisory groups. As the inaugural Director of the Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development, a key objective has been to create synergies across disciplines for impactful research and practice towards just, equitable, food-secure, and sustainable futures.

As a teacher for 20 years, Professor Rao has developed understanding of gender issues among students, supervised over 30 PhD candidates, and mentored numerous early career researchers.

Erik Alexandersson holds a PhD in biochemistry from Lund University, Sweden, with a focus on plant molecular biology. He did his postdoctoral studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, where he collaborated on research into plant–pathogen interactions and field crops.  He is a formerly associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), where he led projects focused on plant health, crop biofortification and the application of omics technologies in crop improvement, focusing both on the Global North and the Global South. He also has a background as an in-house editor at open-access publisher BioMed Central.

Currently, Erik serves as a senior research manager at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, where he leverages his scientific expertise to support research and innovation in plant science, breeding and biotechnology. His role involves strategic funding initiatives aimed at addressing global challenges in agriculture, food security, and environmental sustainability. With a strong background in academic research and a growing presence in science policy and funding, Erik is committed to fostering interdisciplinary collaborations that drive transformative change and solutions.

Matthew Kessler is a food systems podcaster, science communicator and project coordinator at SLU. Matthew has worked with farmers in North Carolina, New York, Hawai'i, Nepal, and Norway, with a BSc in Environmental Sciences and MSc in Agroecology.

Over the past 15 years, he has worked on farms and in kitchens, labs and classrooms - and most recently in recording studios - to better understand and communicate what is a 'good’, just and resilient future for food.