Join us for a powerful International Women’s Day celebration featuring an inspiring panel discussion on Resilience and Collaboration.
This event brings together four remarkable women whose work spans conservation, poetry and the arts, global health innovation, and international development. Each panellist brings a unique perspective shaped by leadership, creativity, advocacy, and lived experience.
The conversation will be moderated by Professor Enlli Thomas, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Welsh Language, Culture and the Region).
Our Panellists:
Professor Julia Jones OBE
Julia is professor of conservation science at Bangor University where her research focuses on improving the effectiveness of nature conservation policy and practice. She also is directly involved in both policy and practice. She was appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment to the board of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, in this role she co-chairs the chief scientists group of the UK's five statutory nature conservation bodies. She is also a trustee of WWF-UK. She was awarded an MBE for services to the environment in the King's new year honours list.
Hanan Issa
A Welsh-Iraqui poet, filmmaker, scriptwriter, and artist, Hanan Issa is the current National Poet of Wales, the first Muslim to hold the title. She champions the ancient Welsh poetic form cynghanedd and aims to broaden engagement with poetry. Her work explores themes of identity, belonging, and nature. A versatile artist, she wrote and directed The Golden Apple (2022) and contributed to Channel 4’s We Are Lady Parts. Her writing also features in notable anthologies, including Welsh (Plural): Essays on the Future of Wales and Just So You Know: Essays of Experience, which she co-edited. She was awarded an honorary degree from Bangor University in 2025.
Dr Salamatu Jidda Fada
Salamatu Jidda Fada is an educator & conservation and climate action professional dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of women and girls. She founded the Network of Women for Sustainable Development and cofounded the LEAD Mentorship Program for female students at the University of Jos, Nigeria. She also convenes African Women in Conservation and Environment (AWiCONE) and has mentored numerous early and mid-career academics across Africa. She leads The Shielded Girl Child Project in six northern Nigerian states. She has received multiple accolades, including an Honorary Doctorate from Bangor University, UK, and the Youth and Mentorship Award from the Nigerian Society of Conservation Biology.
Dr Elin Haf Davies
Elin Haf's career began as a Children's Nurse and from there she spent time clinically, academically, and as a regulator, obtaining a BSc, MSc, and PhD along the way. Her combined experiences led her to establish Aparito in 2014, with the aim to digitise clinical trials and accelerate drug development for life-limiting diseases. The approach was centred around the patient experience and intended to make clinical trials more accessible to everyone via their eCOA platform, Atom5TM.
Elin’s mission for Aparito was to meet the needs of patients, physicians, regulators and reimbursement agencies, and she remains devoted to the development of more meaningful outcome measures for patients engaged in clinical trials. Aparito was acquired by Eli Lilly and Company in 2024.
When Elin is not working, she enjoys spending time on the open ocean. She has been fortunate enough to embark on some incredible adventures that have enabled her to raise funds for charities that are close to her heart, traversing both the Atlantic and Indian oceans by rowboat, and sailing across the Pacific and Atlantic, spending a total of 204 days at sea.
For Elin, being at the mercy of the elements is a humbling experience that serves as a reminder that everyone has their own “personal oceans” to cross. She enjoys the challenge of combining her professional career with extreme adventures which she finds brings both personal development and a different perspective to both.
The panel
