Flora Gray, student in our Department of Earth Sciences, recently won second prize in the Helmut Claas-Scholarships 2025.
The CLAAS Foundation ceremony, held in Harsewinkel, Germany, honours ‘particularly committed and talented students for their forward-looking research work’.
Winning second prize in the Helmut Claas-Scholarship means that Flora receives a significant stipend which will allow her to continue her masters studies and further her research.
The bridge between science and practical implementation
For Flora’s BSc Geological Sciences/Environmental Geoscience dissertation, she investigated how maize cultivation and nitrogen-fixing plants can serve as indicators for different farming systems.
The CLAAS Foundation recognises innovative young researchers who demonstrate academic excellence and contribute to overcoming current challenges in agriculture.
The judges were impressed by Flora’s comprehensive analysis of the effects of regenerative and conventional agriculture on soil quality. They also commented that Flora’s work provides valuable insights for sustainable practices.
Passion into positive impact
Flora viewed her dissertation as a passion project as it combined an interest in changes to agriculture alongside running regenerative farming trials at the farm back at home.
“The entire event was wonderful and I’d like to thank CLAAS and everybody who helped organise it behind the scenes. It was amazing to meet so many other students from across Europe too.
It was an incredible opportunity to show that something so personal to me could be of interest to a wider agricultural and scientific community, especially being judged by academics from a multitude of different backgrounds.” Flora Gray
Future potential
Flora was given the opportunity to continue her research study beyond her BSc programme.
She is now completing a Master of Research in ‘The establishment of mycorrhizal fungi in regenerative farming systems’ at Durham as she enjoys the research element so much.
Looking to the future, Flora is passionate about continuing her work on improving agriculture and its potential for climate change mitigation and biodiversity gain.
Learn more
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