Julia holds a BSc Hons in (Geography) from London and an MSc in Soil Science from the University of Stellenbosch in 2007. Between her undergrad and postgrad studies she worked in London in finance as a data analyst, and then in rural Zambia as assistant manager to an outdoor centre. Julia undertook research on soil fertility constraints to small-scale agriculture in NW Zambia for 2 years, following this she ran field trials in Mpumalanga on fly ash in soils for 2 years. Since 2009 she has been the manager of the University of Stellenbosch cross- faculty an inter- and multi-disciplinary projects on food systems, developing the MSc programme in Food & Nutrition Security and MSc Sustainable Agriculture. She brings together new projects and programmes working towards the broader goal of developing cutting edge research in sustainable food systems. She is also the active in the Stellenbosch food platform, a board member of the Southern Africa Food Lab and the Western Cape food security task team.