Zoology student named Countryfile Young Countryside Champion

A nature-loving University of Reading student has been crowned BBC Countryfile Young Countryside Champion 2024.

Ramandeep Nijjar, who is in the third year of her Zoology degree and is currently on placement with the Global Rewilding Alliance, was awarded the title at the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2024 in Glasgow on Monday, 2 December.

The 20-year-old, from Walsall, was chosen as the winner by judges for her dedication to nature conservation and her ambition to create more spaces for young people to be able to engage with nature.

Ramandeep said: “I’ve always been passionate about nature and wildlife. I was lucky that my family would often take us on trips to the coast or to local parks, and I was also fortunate to be part of girl guiding since I was five. That really accelerated my passion for the outdoors.

“Nature brings so much joy to so many different people and I want to continue to protect it so hopefully more people can experience the joy I feel when I’m in nature.”

Hedgehog havens

While studying at Reading, Ramandeep co-founded the Hedgehog Society, helping to put on more than two dozen different events for members over the past 16 months. Activities to keep campus hedgehogs safe have included setting up camera traps, carrying out footprint tunnel surveys, conducting hazard audits, setting up hedgehog houses and going on litter picks. Founding the Hedgehog Society and her work with the Green Volunteers Group led to Ramandeep winning the University’s Student Volunteer of the Year award in 2023.

Ramandeep was nominated for the Countryfile Young Countryside Champion award by Sara Lovejoy, from the University of Reading’s Digital Campaigns and Engagement team.

Sara said: “Ramandeep consistently works to empower her peers, providing them with the knowledge and tools to become effective advocates for nature. Her achievements at such a young age are truly impressive, and her potential for future impact is immense. Ramandeep represents the kind of passionate, informed, and active environmental champion that gives us hope for the future of our planet.”

Community champion

Outside of university life, Ramandeep is the youth representative for the British Trust for Ornithology for Birmingham, helping to run events in her local community to engage more young people with science and nature. 

The Zoology student campaigns with UK Youth for Nature and was one of 200 young people who took part in the making of Our Beautiful Wild, a film from a project called Young Voices for Nature co-ordinated by staff from WWF-UK, RSPB, National Trust and World Pencil. Ramandeep has also led a workshop at the Youth in Nature Summit, jointly funded and supported by RSPB, BTO and WWF-UK, a weekend-long event focused on empowering and enabling young voices to be heard in the environmental sector.

In June 2024, Ramandeep developed an event for Reading Climate Festival which delivered the region’s first Youth Mobilisation Day. This programme educated young people from local schools about Reading's Climate Emergency Strategy and provided practical advice on running creative campaigns and engaging with politics to effect positive change.

Ramandeep was announced as the winner of the Countryfile Young Countryside Champion on Sunday’s (8 December) episode of Countryfile.